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Soviet  Russia 

The  Labor  Lai»s  of  Soviet  Russia, 
Containing  a  Supplement 
"The  Protection  of  Labor  in 
Soviet  Russia" 


//-/3-<f/ 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


SOVIET  RUSSIA  PAMPHLETS,  NO.  1 

The  Labor  Laws  of 
Soviet  Russia 


Fourth  Edition,  Revised 

With  a  Supplement,  The  Protection  of  Labor  in  Soviet 
Russia,   by    S.    Kaplun,   of   the   Commissariat   of    Labor. 


Price  25  Cents 


Published  by 

Soviet  Russia 

New  York 

1921 


Instit^ 

Univez-cjity  of  Call  for 


SOVIET  RUSSIA  PAMPHLETS 

A  series  of  important  documents  from  authentic 
sources. 

1.  Labor  Laws  of  Soviet  Russia.  Fourth  edition. 
With  a  supplement  on  The  Protection  of  Labor 
in  Soviet  Russia,  by  S.  Kaplun,  of  the  Com- 
missariat of  Labor.    Eighty  pages,  price  25  cents. 

2.  The  Marriage  Laws  of  Soviet  Russia.  An  85- 
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laws  adopted  by  the  Russian  Soviet  Republic 
regulating  Civil  Status,  Marriage,  Divorce,  Do- 
mestic Relations,  Rights  of  Children,  etc.  Price 
25  cents,  postpaid. 

3.  Two  Years  of  Soviet  Russian  Foreign  Policy, 
by  George  Chicherin.  A  full  account  of  all  the 
diplomatic  negotiations  between  Soviet  Russia 
and  foreign  powers,  from  November  7,  1917,  to 
November  7,  1919.    Out  of  print. 

Bound  in  heavy  paper  covers 
Specul  Rates  in  Quantities 

Address : 

"SOVIET  RUSSIA" 

no  W.  40th  St.        Room  304       New  York,  N.  Y. 


7J^ 


The  Labor  Laws  of 
Soviet  Russia 


Fourth  Edition,  Revised 

Containing  a  Supplement,  "The  Protection  of 

Labor  in  Soviet  Russia,"  by  S.  Kaplun, 

of  the  Commissariat  of  Labor 


Soviet  Russia 

110  West  40th  Street 

New  York 

1921 


Imr.  Indus,, 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PACE 

The  Basic  Principles  of  the  Labor  Laws  of  Soviet 
Russia  (Summary  by  the  Russian  Soviet  Govern- 
ment Bureau  in  the  United  States 5 

Labor  Laws  of  Soviet  Russia 11 

Article  L    On  Compulsory  Labor 15 

Article  II.    The  Right  to  Work 17 

Article  III.    Methods  of  Labor  Distribution  ...  18 

Article  IV.    Probation  Period 20 

Article  V.    Transfer  and  Discharge  of  Workers    .  21 

Article  VI.    Remuneration  of  Labor 24 

Article  VII.    Working  Hours 27 

Article  VIII.     Methods  to   Secure  Efficiency   of 

Labor 31 

Article  IX.    Protection  of  Labor 34 

Appendix  to  Section  5 36 

Appendix  to  Section  78 39 

Appendix  to  Section  79 41 

Appendix  to  Section  80 44 

The  Protection  of  Labor  in  Soviet  Russia,  by  S. 
Kaplun,  of  the  Commissariat  of  Labor. 
I.    Protection  of  Labor  Before  the  Establish- 
ment OF  the  Soviet  Government    ...  48 
II.    The  Soviet  Government  and  Protection  of 

Labor 52 

III.  Working  Hours 53 

IV.  Protection  of  Female  Labor 55 

V.     Child  Labor 57 

VI.    Sanitary  and  Technical  Protection  of  Labor  59 

VII.    Other  Questions  of  Protection  of  Labor    .  61 

VIII.    Inspection  of  Labor 64 

IX.    Inspection  of  Labor  at  Large 69 

X.     Staff  for  Inspection  of  Labor 71 

XI.    Special  Inspections 75 

XII.    Conclusions 77 

3 


THE    BASIC    PRINCIPLES    OF    THE    LABOR 
LAWS  OF  SOVIET  RUSSIA 

(Summary    by    the    Russian    Soviet    Government 
Bureau  in  the  United  States) 

T^HE  fundamental  principle  underlying  the  labor 
-*-  laws  of  Soviet  Russia  is  that  society  owes 
everybody  a  living.  The  community  is  like  one 
family,  every  member  of  which  is  supported  out 
of  the  family  income.  The  labor  laws  speaks  of 
"citizens."  In  practice,  however,  there  is  no  dif- 
ference between  citizens  and  aliens  because  any 
person  may  become  a  citizen  by  a  mere  declaration 
of  intention  to  become  one. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  since  everyone  is 
entitled  to  a  seat  at  the  community  table,  every 
able-bodied  person  is  required  to  contribute  his  or 
her  share  towards  the  work  which  is  necessary  to 
provide  the  community  with  the  means  for  the  sup- 
port of  its  members.  This  is  described  as  "com- 
pulsory labor." 

The  obligation  to  work  for  the  community  begins 
with  the  age  of  sixteen  and  terminates  at  the  age 
of  fifty.  Old  persons  are  supported  by  the  com- 
munity; likewise  all  persons  who  are  permanently 
or  temporarily  incapacitated  for  work.  This  in- 
cludes women  for  a  period  of  eight  weeks  before 
and  eight  weeks  after  confinement.  School  children 
are  required  to  take  manual  training  at  school. 


The  community  undertakes  to  provide  every  per- 
son with  work.  If  no  work  can  be  found  for  any 
able-bodied  person,  he  or  she  is  entitled  to  a  full 
wage  or  salary  for  the  whole  time  of  his  or  her 
involuntary  idleness. 

As  far  as  practicable,  every  worker  must  be  as- 
signed to  work  at  his  trade  or  profession,  if  he  has 
any,  and  at  his  usual  place  of  residence.  If  there 
is  no  opening  in  a  person's  chosen  field  of  work, 
he  may  be  assigned  to  and  must  accept  another  class 
of  work.  If,  however,  the  work  is  of  a  lower  grade, 
the  worker  is  nevertheless  entitled  to  his  regular 
compensation  which  he  would  receive  if  employed 
at  his  own  trade  or  profession.  If  no  employment 
can  be  found  for  a  worker  within  the  district  where 
he  resides,  he  may  be  assigned  to  work  in  another 
district. 

Night  work  is  prohibited  for  all  persons  under 
the  age  of  eighteen,  and  for  women  of  all  ages. 
The  same  classes  are  excluded  from  all  kinds  of 
employment  which  are  considered  "especially  hard 
or  dangerous." 

In  nationalized  industries  the  terms  of  employ- 
ment are  regulated  by  rules  framed  by  the  labor 
organizations,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Peo- 
ple's Commissariat  of  Labor,  which  corresponds  to 
the  Department  of  Labor  of  the  United  States.  In 
establishments  operated  by  private  capital  the  terms 
of  employment  are  regulated  by  rules  agreed  upon 
between  the  owners  or  directors  of  the  establish- 
ments and  the  labor  unions,  likewise  subject  to 
approval  by  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor. 
If  no  agreement  can  be  reached  between  capital  and 
labor  the  terms  of  employment  are  drawn  up  by 
the  trade  unions   and  submitted  for   approval   to 


the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor.  This  provi- 
sion of  the  Soviet  labor  laws  is  theoretically  tanta- 
mount to  compulsory  arbitration.  It  must  be  borne 
in  mind,  however,  that  the  People's  Commissariat 
of  Labor  is  a  Soviet  institution,  in  the  election  of 
which  labor  has  a  dominating  vote. 

A  normal  working  day  must  not  exceed  eight 
hours  for  day  work  and  seven  hours  for  night 
work.  The  normal  working  day  for  persons  under 
eighteen  years  of  age  must  not  exceed  six  hours. 
In  especially  hard  and  dangerous  occupations  the 
normal  day  must  likewise  not  exceed  six  hours. 
If  the  character  of  the  work  is  such  that  it  cannot 
be  dropped  at  the  end  of  a  normal  working  day, 
two  or  more  labor  shifts  must  be  engaged.  Over- 
time is  permitted  only  in  emergencies.  Wliere  the 
emergency  would  not  endanger  human  life  or  in- 
volve interruption  in  water  supply,  lighting,  sewer- 
age, or  transportation,  overtime  work  is  permitted 
only  with  the  consent  of  the  labor  unions  whose 
membership  is  affected.  No  persons  under  eighteen 
years  of  age,  nor  any  women  are  permitted  to  work 
overtime.  In  no  case  may  overtime  exceed  four 
hours  in  the  course  of  two  consecutive  weeks,  nor 
may  overtime  work  be  resorted  to  more  than  on 
fifty  days  during  the  year.  The  guiding  idea  is 
that  whenever  it  may  be  foreseen  that  the  work 
of  any  establishment  cannot  be  completed  with  the 
regular  force  within  a  normal  working  day,  ad- 
ditional shifts  of  workers  must  be  provided  for. 

Every  worker  is  entited  to  a  vacation  with  pay 
of  two  weeks  in  every  six  months. 

In  order  to  avoid  as  far  as  possible  disputes  be- 
tween individual  wage  earners  and  the  employers 
of  labor  over  the  performance  of  the  term  of  em- 


ployment,  every  worker  is  provided  with  a  "labor 
booklet,"  in  which  must  be  entered  the  terms  of 
his  employment,  the  quantity  of  work  performed, 
the  amount  of  wages  received  by  him,  and  all 
other  particulars  relating  to  his  work  and  payment. 

The  right  to  "hire  and  fire"  is  not  left  to  the 
discretion  of  the  employer.  Before  any  person  is 
permanently  engaged  he -must  undergo  a  probation 
period  of  one  week;  in  nationalized  establishments 
the  probation  period  is  two  weeks  for  unskilled 
labor  and  one  month  for  skilled  labor.  If  any 
employee  is  rejected  after  probation  he  may  ap- 
peal to  his  union.  If  his  union  considers  his  com- 
plaint justified  it  may  enter  into  negotiations  with 
his  employer.  Should  negotiations  fail  the  matter 
may  be  submitted  to  the  local  office  of  the  Com- 
missariat of  Labor,  which  may  order  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  complainant  to  a  permanent  position  or 
may  dismiss  his  complaint.  After  a  person  has  been 
appointed  to  a  permanent  position  he  may  be  dis- 
charged for  unfitness  only  with  the  consent  of  his 
labor  union.  Both  the  employer  and  the  employee 
may  appeal  the  matter  to  the  local  and  the  district 
office  of  the  Commissariat  of  Labor,  respectively. 
The  decision  of  the  district  office  is  final. 

Every  wage  earner  is  required  to  turn  out  the 
standard  output  fixed  for  his  class  and  grade  of 
work  by  the  valuation  committee  of  his  labor  union, 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Commissariat  of 
Labor,  representing  the  interests  of  labor,  and  the 
Council  of  National  Economy,  representing  the 
interests  of  national  industry.  A  wage  earner,  who 
falls  below  the  standard  may  be  demoted  by  deci- 
sion of  the  valuation  committee  of  his  union,  but 
he  may  appeal  from  that  decision  to  the  local  and 


the  district  office  of  the  Commissariat  of  Labor. 
The  decision  of  the  district  office  is  final.  In  case 
of  negligence  or  bad  faith  a  wage  earner  may  be 
discharged  without  notice,  subject  to  the  agreement 
of  his  labor  union. 

A  worker  may  be  discharged  in  case  of  a  shut- 
down of  the  establishment  or  of  suspension  of 
work  for  more  than  a  rnonth  or  in  case  of  cancel- 
lation of  special  orders.  The  discharge  of  a  worker 
for  these  reasons  is  likewise  appealable  to  the  local 
and  district  offices  of  the  Commissariat  of  Labor. 
In  every  case  the  worker  is  entitled  to  two  weeks' 
notice  of  the  proposed  discharge. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  worker  is  not  at  liberty  to 
quit  his  job  at  pleasure.  He  must  tender  his  resig- 
nation, which  must  be  passed  upon  by  the  shop 
committee.  If  the  shop  committee,  after  a  hearing, 
declines  to  accept  the  resignation,  the  wage  earner 
must  remain  at  work,  but  he  may  appeal  to  his 
trade  union,  whose  decision  is  final.  A  wage  earner 
who  disobeys  these  rules  is  barred  from  other  em- 
ployment for  one  week  and  forfeits  his  unemploy- 
ment benefit  for  that  period.  These  rules  do  not 
apply,  however,  to  personal  service  and  to  tem- 
porary employment  where  the  worker  is  at  liberty 
to  quit  at  pleasure. 

In  order  to  carry  into  effect  the  principles  which 
have  been  summarized  in  the  preceding  paragraphs, 
suitable  machinery  has  been  provided  by  the  labor 
code.  Every  wage  earner  must  enroll  with  some 
labor  organization,  whereupon  he  is  assigned  by 
the  valuation  committee  of  his  union  to  a  certain 
trade  and  class.  This  is  in  principle  a  continua- 
tion and  extension  of  the  guild  system,  which  ex- 
isted under  the  old  laws  of  the  Russian  Empire. 


A  system  of  labor  inspection  has  been  provided 
for  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  People's  Com- 
missariat of  Labor.  Labor  inspectors  are  elected 
by  the  central  bodies  of  the  trade  unions.  The 
powers  of  the  labor  inspectors  are  very  wide.  They 
may  enter  at  any  time  of  the  day  or  night  every 
industrial  establishment,  as  well  as  the  lodgings 
provided  by  the  employers  for  their  workers.  They 
may  adopt  special  rules  for  the  removal  of  condi- 
tions endangering  the  life  and  health  of  employees. 
They  may  require  the  production  by  the  manage- 
ment of  all  the  books  and  records  of  the  establish- 
ment, and  they  may  prosecute  all  persons  violating 
the  provisions  of  the  labor  code. 


10 


! 


THE  CODE  OF  LABOR  LAWS 
OF  THE  RUSSIAN  SOCIALIST 
FEDERAL  SOVIET  REPUBLIC 


Translated  from  the  official  text  published 
in  Moscow. 


11 


INTRODUCTION 

I.  The  Code  of  Labor  Laws  shall  take  effect 
from  the  moment  of  its  publication  in  the  Compila- 
tion of  Laws  and  Regulations  of  the  Workmen's 
and  Peasants'  Government.  This  Code  must  be  ex- 
tensively circulated  among  the  working  class  of  the 
country  by  all  the  local  organs  of  the  Soviet  Gov- 
ernment and  be  posted  in  a  conspicuous  place  in 
all  Soviet  Institutions. 

II.  The  regulations  of  the  Code  of  Labor  Laws 
shall  apply  to  all  persons  receiving  remuneration 
for  their  work  and  shall  be  obligatory  for  all  en- 
terprises, institutions  and  establishments  (Soviet, 
public,  private  and  domestic),  as  well  as  for  all 
private  employers  exploiting  labor. 

III.  All  existing  regulations  of  a  general  char- 
acter and  those  hereafter  to  be  issued  in  relation 
to  labor  (orders  of  individual  establishments,  in- 
structions, rules  of  internal  management,  etc.),  as 
well  as  individual  contracts  and  agreements,  shall 
be  valid  only  in  so  far  as  they  do  not  conflict  with 
this  Code. 

IV.  All  labor  agreements  previously  entered 
into,  as  well  as  all  those  which  will  be  entered  into 
in  the  future,  in  so  far  as  they  contradict  the  regu- 
lations of  this  Code  shall  not  be  considered  valid 
or  obligatory,  either  for  the  employees  or  for  the 
employers. 

V.  In  enterprises  and  establishments  where  the 
work  is  carried  on  in  the  form  of  organized  co- 

13 


operation  (Section  6,  Division  (a)  of  the  present 
Labor  Code)  the  wage  earners  must  be  allowed  the 
widest  possible  self-government  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Central  Soviet  authorities.  On  this 
basis  alone  can  the  working  masses  be  successfully 
educated  in  the  spirit  of  socialist  and  communal 
government. 

VI.  The  labor  conditions  in  the  communal  en- 
terprises organized  as  well  as  supported  by  the 
Soviet  institutions  (agricultural  and  other  com- 
munes) are  regulated  by  special  rules  of  the  All- 
Russian  Central  Executive  Committee  and  of  the 
Council  of  People's  Commissars,  and  by  instruc- 
tions of  the  People's  Commissariats  of  Agriculture 
and  Labor. 

The  labor  conditions  of  farmers  on  land  assigned 
them  for  cultivation  are  regulated  by  the  Code  of 
Rural  Laws. 

The  labor  conditions  of  independent  artisans  are 
regulated  by  special  rules  of  the  Commissariat  of 
Labor. 


14 


ARTICLE  I 

On  Compulsory  Labor 

1.  All  citizens  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet 
Republic,  with  tlie  exceptions  stated  in  sections  2  and  3, 
shall  be  subject  to  compulsory  labor. 

2.  The  following  persons  shall  be  exempt  from  com- 
pulsory labor: 

(a)  Persons  under  16  years  of  age; 

(b)  All  persons  over  50  years; 

(c)  Persons  who  have  become  incapacitated  by  in- 
jury or  illness. 

3.  Temporarily  exempt  from  compulsory  labor  are: 

(a)  Persons  who  are  temporarily  incapacitated 
owing  to  illness  or  injury,  for  a  period  necessary  for 
their  recovery; 

(b)  Women,  for  a  period  of  8  weeks  before  and  8 
weeks  after  confinement. 

4.  All  students  shall  be  subject  to  compulsory  labor  at 
the  schools. 

5.  The  fact  of  permanent  or  temporary  disability  shall 
be  certified  after  a  medical  examination  by  the  Bureau  of 
Medical  Survey  in  the  city,  district  or  province,  by  the 
accident  insurance  office  or  its  agencies,  according  to  the 
place  of  residence  of  the  person  whose  disability  is  to  be 
certified. 

ISote  I.  Rules  for  the  examination  of  disabled  workmen 
are  appended  hereto   (page  36). 

Note  II.  Persons  subject  to  compulsory  labor  but  not  en- 
gaged in  useful  public  work  may  be  summoned  by  the  local 
Soviets  for  the  execution  of  public  work,  on  conditions 
determined  by  the  local  Departments  of  Labor  in  agree- 
ment with  the  local  Councils  of  trade  unions. 

6.  Labor  may  be  performed  in  the  form  of — 

(a)  Organized  cooperation; 

(b)  Individual  personal  services; 

(c)  Individual  special  jobs. 

15 


7.  Labor  conditions  in  Government  (Soviet)  establish- 
ments shall  be  regulated  by  scale  rules  approved  by  the 
Central  Soviet  authorities  through  the  People's  Commis- 
sariat of  Labor. 

8.  Labor  conditions  in  all  establishments  (Soviet,  na- 
tionalized, public  and  private)  shall  be  regulated  by  scale 
rules  drafted  by  the  trade  unions,  in  agreement  with  the 
directors  or  owners  of  establishments  and  enterprises,  and 
approved  by  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor. 

Note.  In  cases  where  it  is  impossible  to  arrive  at  an 
understanding  with  the  directors  or  owners  of  establish- 
ments or  enterprises,  the  scale  rules  shall  be  drawn  up  by 
tlie  trade  unions  and  submitted  for  approval  to  the  Peo- 
ple's Commissariat  of  Labor. 

9.  Labor  in  the  form  of  individual  personal  service  or 
in  the  form  of  individual  special  jobs  shall  be  regulated 
by  scale  rules  drafted  by  the  respective  trade  unions  and 
approved  by  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor. 


16 


ARTICLE  II 

The  Right  to  Fork 

10.  All  citizens  able  to  work  have  the  right  to  employ- 
ment at  their  vocations  and  for  remuneration  fixed  for 
such  class  of  work. 

Note.  The  District  Exchange  Bureau  of  the  Division  of 
Labor  Distribution  may,  by  agreement  with  the  respective 
labor  bodies,  assign  individual  workers  or  groups  of  them 
to  work  at  other  trades  if  there  is  no  demand  for  labor 
in  the  vocations  of  the  persons  in  question. 

11.  The  right  to  work  belongs  first  of  all  to  those  who 
are  subject  to  compulsory  labor. 

12.  Of  the  classes  exempt  from  compulsory  labor,  only 
those  mentioned  in  subdivision  "b"  of  section  2  shall  have 
the  right  to  work. 

13.  Those  mentioned  in  subdivisions  "a"  and  "c"  of 
section  2  shall  absolutely  have  no  right  to  work,  and  those 
mentioned  in  section  3  shall  temporarily  have  no  right 
to  work. 

14.  All  persons  of  the  female  sex  and  those  of  the  male 
sex  under  18  years  of  age,  shall  have  no  right  to  work 
during  night  time  or  in  those  branches  of  industry  where 
the  conditions  of  labor  are  especially  hard  or  dangerous. 

Note.  A  list  of  especially  hard  and  health-endangering 
occupations  shall  be  prepared  by  the  Division  of  Labor 
Protection  of  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor,  and  shall 
be  published  in  the  month  of  January  of  each  year  in  the 
Compilation  of  Laws  and  Regulations  of  the  Workmen's 
and  Peasants'  Government. 


17 


ARTICLE  III 

Methods  of  Labor  Distribution 

15.  The  enforcement  of  the  right  to  work  shall  be  se- 
cured through  the  Division  of  Labor  Distribution,  through 
trade  unions,  and  through  all  the  institutions  of  the  Rus- 
sian Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic. 

16.  The  assignment  of  workers  to  work  shall  be  effected 
through  the  Division  of  Labor  Distribution. 

17.  A  worker  may  be  summoned  to  work,  save  by  the 
Division  of  Labor  Distribution,  only  when  chosen  for  a 
position  by  a  Soviet  institution  or  enterprise. 

18.  Vacancies  may  be  filled  by  election  when  the  work 
offered  requires  political  reliability  or  unusual  special 
knowledge,  for  which   the  person  elected  is  noted. 

19.  Persons  engaged  for  work  by  election  must  register 
with  the  Division  of  Labor  Distribution  before  they  are 
accepted,  but  they  shall  not  be  subject  to  the  rules  con- 
cerning probation  which  are  set  forth  in  Article  IV  of  the 
present  Code. 

20.  Unemployed  persons  shall  be  registered  to  work 
through  the  Division  of  Labor  Distribution  in  the  man- 
ner stated  in  sections  21  to  30. 

21.  A  worker  who  is  not  engaged  in  work  at  his 
vocation  shall  register  witli  the  local  Division  of  Labor 
Distribution  as  unemployed. 

22.  Establishments  and  individuals  in  need  of  workers 
shall  apply  to  the  local  Division  of  Labor  Distribution  or 
its  division  (Correspondence  Bureau)  stating  the  condition 
of  the  work  offered  as  well  as  the  requirements  which  the 
workmen  must  meet    (trade,  knowledge,  experience). 

23.  The  Division  of  Labor  Distribution  on  receipt  of  the 
application  mentioned  in  section  22,  shall  assign  the  per- 
sons meeting  the  requiiements  thereof  in  the  order  deter- 
mined by  the  same. 

24.  An  unemployed  person  has  no  right  to  refuse  an 
offer  to  work  at  his  vocation,  provided  the  working  condi- 
tions conform  with  standards  fixed  by  the  respective  scale 

18 


regulations,  or  in  the  absence  of  the  same  by  the  trade 
unions. 

25.  A  worker  assigned  to  work  for  a  period  of  not 
more  than  two  weeks,  shall  be  considered  unemployed, 
and  shall  not  lose  his  place  on  the  list  of  the  Division  of 
Labor  Distribution. 

26.  Should  the  local  Division  of  Labor  Distribution  have 
no  workers  on  its  lists  meeting  the  stated  requirements, 
the  application  shall  be  immediately  sent  to  the  District 
Exchange  Bureau,  and  the  establishment  or  individual 
offering  the  employment  shall  be  simultaneously  notified 
to  this  effect. 

27.  Whenever  workers  are  required  for  work  outside  of 
their  district,  a  roll-call  of  the  unemployed  registered  with 
the  Division  of  Labor  Distribution  shall  take  place,  to 
ascertain  who  are  willing  to  go;  if  a  sufficient  number 
of  such  should  not  be  found,  the  Division  of  Labor  Dis- 
tribution shall  assign  the  lacking  number  from  among  the 
unemployed  in  the  order  of  their  registration,  provided  that 
those  who  have  dependents  must  not  be  thus  assigned  be- 
fore single  persons. 

28.  If  in  the  Division  of  Labor  Distribution,  within  the 
limits  of  the  district,  there  be  no  workmen  meeting  the 
requirements,  the  District  Exchange  Bureau  has  the  right, 
upon  agreement  with  the  respective  trade  union,  to  send 
unemployed  from  another  class  approaching  as  nearly  as 
possible  the  trade  required. 

29.  An  unemployed  person  who  is  offered  work  outside 
his  vocation  shall  be  obliged  to  accept  it,  with  the  under- 
standing, if  he  so  desires,  that  this  be  only  temporary, 
until  he  receives  work  at  his  vocation. 

30.  A  worker  who  is  working  outside  his  vocation,  and 
who  has  expressed  the  desire  that  this  be  only  temporary, 
shall  retain  his  place  on  the  register  of  the  Division  of 
Labor  Distribution  until  he  secures  work  at  his  vocation. 

31.  Private  individuals  violating  the  rules  of  labor  dis- 
tribution set  forth  in  this  article  shall  be  punished,  by 
order  of  the  local  board  of  the  Division  of  Labor  Distribu- 
tion, by  a  fine  of  not  less  than  300  rubles  or  by  arrest 
for  not  less  than  one  week.  Soviet  establishments  and 
officials  violating  these  rules  of  labor  distribution  shall  be 
liable  to  prosecution  for  malfeasance  in  office. 


19 


ARTICLE  IV 
Probation  Period 

32.  Final  acceptance  of  workers  for  permanent  employ- 
ment shall  be  preceded  by  a  period  of  probation  of  not 
more  than  six  days;  in  Soviet  institutions  the  probation 
period  shall  be  two  weeks  for  unskilled  and  less  responsible 
work  and  one  month  for  skilled  and  responsible  work. 

33.  According  to  the  results  of  the  probation  the  worker 
shall  either  be  given  a  permanent  appointment,  or  rejected 
with  payment  for  the  period  of  probation  in  accordance 
with  the  scale  rates. 

34.  The  results  of  the  probation  (acceptance  or  rejec- 
tion) shall  be  immediately  communicated  to  the  Division 
of  Labor  Distribution. 

35.  Up  to  the  expiration  of  the  probation  period,  the 
worker  shall  be  considered  as  unemployed,  and  shall  retain 
his  place  on  the  eligible  list  of  the  Division  of  Labor 
Distribution. 

36.  A  person  who,  after  probation,  has  been  rejected, 
may  appeal  from  this  decision  to  the  union  of  which  he 
is  a  member. 

37.  If  the  trade  union  deems  the  appeal  mentioned  in 
the  preceding  section  justified,  it  shall  enter  into  negotia- 
tions with  the  establishment  or  person  who  has  rejected  the 
worker,  with  the  request  tha  the  complainant  be  accepted. 

38.  In  case  of  failure  of  the  negotiations  mentioned  in 
section  37,  the  matter  shall  submitted  to  the  local  De- 
partment of  Labor,  whose  decision  shall  be  final  and  sub- 
ject to  no  further  appeal. 

39.  The  Department  of  Labor  may  demand  that  the 
person  or  establishment  who  has  without  sufficient  reason 
rejected  a  worker  provide  the  latter  with  work.  Further- 
more, it  may  demand  that  the  said  person  or  establishment 
compensate  the  worker  according  to  the  scale  rates  for 
time  lost  between  his  rejection  and  final  acceptance  pur- 
suant to  the  decision  of  the  Department  of  Labor, 

20 


ARTICLE  V 

Transfer  and  Discharge  of  Workers 

40.  Transfer  of  workers  in  all  enterprises,  establish- 
ments, or  institutions  employing  paid  labor  is  allowed  only 
if  required  in  the  interest  of  the  business  and  by  the  de- 
cision of  the  proper  organ  of  management. 

Note.  This  rule  does  not  apply  to  work  with  private 
individuals  employing  paid  labor,  if  the  work  is  of  the  char- 
acter mentioned  in  subdivisions  "b"  and  "c"  of  Section  6. 

41.  The  transfer  of  a  worker  to  other  work  within  the 
enterprise,  establishment  or  institution  where  he  is  em- 
ployed may  be  ordered  by  the  management  of  said  enter- 
prise, establishment  or  institution. 

42.  The  transfer  of  a  worker  to  another  enterprise,  es- 
tablishment or  institution  situated  in  the  same  or  in  an- 
other locality,  may  be  ordered  by  the  corresponding  organ 
of  management  with  the  consent  of  the  Division  of  Labor 
Distribution. 

43.  The  order  of  the  management  for  the  transfer  of 
a  worker  in  accordance  with  Section  40  may  be  appealed 
from  to  the  proper  Department  of  Labor  (local  or  district) 
by  the  interested  individuals  or  organizations. 

44.  The  decision  of  the  Department  of  Labor  in  the 
matter  of  the  transfer  of  a  worker  may  be  appealed  from 
by  the  interested  parties  to  the  District  Department  of 
Labor  or  to  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor,  whose 
decision  in  the  matter  in  dispute  is  final  and  not  subject 
to  further  appeal. 

45.  In  case  of  urgent  public  work  the  District  Depart- 
ment of  Labor  may  in  agreement  with  the  respective  labor 
bodies  and  with  the  approval  of  the  People's  Commissariat 
of  La])or,  order  the  transfer  of  a  whole  group  of  workers 
from  the  organization  where  they  are  employed  to  an- 
other organization  in  the  same  or  in  a  different  locality, 
provided  a  sufficient  number  of  volunteers  for  such  work 
cannot  be  found. 

21 


46.  The  discharge  of  workers  from  an  enterprise,  estab- 
lishment or  institution  where  they  have  been  employed  is 
pemiissible  in  the  following  cases: 

(a)  In  case  of  complete  or  partial  liquidation  of  the 
enterprise,  establishment  or  institution,  or  of  cancella- 
tion of  specific  orders  or  work; 

(b)  Upon  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  employ- 
ment or  completion  of  the  job,  if  the  work  was  of  a 
temporary  character; 

(c)  In  case  of  evident  unfitness  for  work,  by  special 
decision  of  the  management  and  subject  to  agreement 
with  the  respective  trade  unions; 

(d)  By  request  of  the  worker. 

47.  The  management  of  the  enterprise,  establishment  or 
institution  where  a  worker  is  employed,  or  the  person 
for  whom  a  worker  is  working  must  give  the  worker  two 
weeks'  notice  of  the  proposed  discharge,  for  the  reasons 
stated  in  subdivisions  "a,"  "b"  and  "c"  of  section  46, 
notifying  simultaneously  the  local  Division  of  Labor  Dis- 
tribution. 

48.  A  worker  discharged  for  the  reasons  stated  in  sub- 
divisions "a,"  "b"  and  "c"  of  section  46  shall  be  considered 
unemployed  from  the  date  of  the  notice  of  discharge  and 
entered  as  such  on  the  lists  of  the  Division  of  Labor  Dis- 
tribution and  shall  continue  to  perform  his  work  until  the 
expiration  of  the  term  of  two  weeks  mentioned  in  the 
preceding  section. 

49.  The  order  to  discharge  an  employee  for  the  reasons 
stated  in  subdivisions  "a,"  "b"  and  "c"  of  Section  46  may 
be  appealed  from  by  the  interested  persons  to  the  Local 
Department  of  Labor. 

50.  The  decision  of  the  Local  Department  of  Labor  in 
the  matter  of  discharge  may  be  appealed  from  by  either 
party  to  the  District  Department  of  Labor,  whose  decision 
on  the  question  in  dispute  is  final  and  not  subject  to  further 
appeal. 

51.  Voluntary  resignation  by  the  worker  (Section  46, 
subdivision  "d")  from  an  enterprise,  establishment  or  in- 
stitution must  be  preceded  by  an  examination  of  the  rea- 
sons for  the  resignation  by  the  respective  organ  of  work- 
men's self-government   (works  and  kindred  committees). 

Note.  This  rule  does  not  apply  to  the  resignation  of  a 
worker    employed    by    an    individual,    if    the    work    is    of 

22 


the  character  mentioned  in  subdivisions  "b"  and   "c"  of 
Section  6. 

52.  If  the  organ  of  workers'  self-government  (works  or 
kindred  committee)  after  investigating  the  reasons  for  the 
resignation  finds  the  same  unjustified,  the  worker  must 
remain  at  work,  but  may  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the 
committee  to  the  proper  trade  union. 

53.  A  worker  who  quits  work  contrary  to  the  decision 
of  the  Committee  made  pursuant  to  Section  52,  shall  for- 
feit for  one  week  the  right  to  register  with  the  Division  of 
Labor  Distribution. 

54.  Institutions  and  persons  employing  paid  labor  shall, 
whenever  a  worker  quits  work,  inform  thereof  the  Local 
Division  of  Labor  Distribution  and  the  trade  union  of  which 
the  worker  is  a  member,  stating  the  date  and  the  reason. 


23 


ARTICLE  VI 

Remuneration  of  Labor 

55.  The  remuneration  of  workers  in  enterprises,  estab- 
lishments and  institutions  employing  paid  labor,  and  the 
particular  conditions  and  manner  of  payment  shall  be  fixed 
by  scales  v/orked  out  for  each  kind  of  labor  in  the  manner 
described  in  Sections  7  to  9  of  the  present  Code. 

56.  In  fixing  the  scale  standards  the  institutions  which 
work  out  the  same  must  not  deviate  from  the  provisions  of 
this  article  of  the  Code  of  Labor  Laws. 

57.  The  institutions  which  work  out  the  scales,  shall, 
in  fixing  the  rates  of  remuneration,  divide  all  the  workers 
into  groups  and  categories  and  a  definite  standard  of  re- 
muneration shall  be  fixed  for  each  of  them. 

58.  The  standard  of  i^emuneration  fixed  by  the  scale 
rates  must  be  at  least  sufficient  to  provide  for  the  minimum 
living  expenses  as  determined  by  the  People's  Commissariat 
of  Labor  for  each  district  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Fed- 
eral Soviet  Republic  and  published  in  the  Compilation  of 
Laws  and  Regulations  of  the  Workmen's  and  Peasants' 
Government. 

59.  In  determining  the  standard  of  remuneration  for 
each  group  and  categoiy  attention  shall  be  given  to  the 
kind  of  labor,  the  danger  of  the  conditions  under  which 
the  work  is  performed,  the  complexity  and  accuracy  of  the 
work,  the  degree  of  independence  and  responsibility  as 
well  as  the  standard  of  education  and  experience  required 
for  the  performance  of  the  work. 

60.  The  remuneration  of  each  worker  shall  be  deter- 
mined by  his  classification  in  a  definite  group  and 
category. 

61.  The  classification  of  workers  into  groups  and  cate- 
gories within  each  branch  of  labor  shall  be  made  by  special 
valuation  commissions,  local  and  central,  established  by 
the  respective  trade  unions. 

Note.  The  procedure  of  valuation  commissions  shall  be 
determined  by  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor. 

24 


62.  The  scale  rules  shall  fix  the  rates  of  remuneration 
for  a  normal  working  day  or  for  piece  work,  and  shall  also 
specify  the  remuneration  for  overtime  work. 

63.  Remuneration  for  piece  work  shall  be  computed  by 
dividing  the  daily  scale  rate  by  the  number  of  pieces  con- 
stituting the  production  standard. 

64.  The  standard  of  remuneration  fixed  for  overtime 
work  shall  not  exceed  time  and  a  half  of  the  normal  re- 
muneration. 

65.  Excepting  the  remuneration  paid  for  overtime  work 
done  in  the  same  or  in  a  different  branch  of  labor,  no  sup- 
plementary remuneration  in  excess  of  the  standard  fixed  for 
a  given  group  and  category  shall  be  permitted,  irrespective 
of  the  pretext  and  form  under  which  it  might  be  offered 
and  whether  it  be  paid  in  only  one  or  in  several  places 
of  employment. 

66.  Persons  working  in  several  places  must  state  in 
which   place   of   employment   they  desire   to   receive   their 

pay- 

67.  Any  person  receiving  supplementary  remuneration, 
in  violation  of  Section  65,  shall  be  liable  to  criminal  prose- 
cution for  fraud,  and  the  remuneration  received  in  excess 
of  the  standard  shall  be  deducted  from  subsequent  pay- 
ments to  such  person. 

68.  From  the  remuneration  of  the  worker  may  be  de- 
ducted the  supplementary  remuneration  received  in  viola- 
tion of  Section  65,  and  the  remuneration  earned  by  the 
worker  during  his  vacation  (Section  111)  ;  deduction  may 
also  be  made  for  absence  from  work. 

69.  No  other  deductions,  except  those  mentioned  in  Sec- 
tion 68,  shall  be  permitted  irrespective  of  the  form  or  pre- 
text under  which  they  might  be  made. 

70.  Payment  of  remuneration  must  not  be  made  in 
advance. 

71.  If  the  work  is  of  a  permanent  nature,  payment  for 
the  same  must  be  made  periodically,  at  least  once  in  every 
fortnight.  Remuneration  for  temporary  work  and  for  spe- 
cial jobs,  if  the  same  continue  less  than  two  weeks,  shall 
be  paid  immediately  after  the  work  has  been  completed. 

72.  Payments  shall  be  made  in  money  or  in  kind  (lodg- 
ings, food  supplies,  or  other  articles). 

73.  To  make  payments  in  kind  special  permission  must 
be  obtained  from   the  Local   Department  of   Labor  which 

25 


shall  determine  the  rates  jointly  with  the  respective  trade 
unions. 

Note.  The  rates  thus  determined  must  be  based  on  the 
standard  prices  fixed  by  the  respective  institutions  of  the 
Soviet  authority  (valuation  commission  of  the  Food  Com- 
missariat and  the  Land  and  Housing  Department,  Price 
Committees,  etc.). 

74.  Payment  must  be  made  during  working  hours. 

75.  Payments  must  be  made  at  the  place  of  work. 

76.  The  worker  shall  be  paid  only  for  actual  work 
done.  If  a  cessation  of  work  is  caused  during  the  working 
day  by  circumstances  beyond  the  control  of  the  worker 
(through  accident  or  through  the  fault  of  the  administra- 
tion), he  shall  be  paid  for  the  time  lost,  on  the  basis  of 
the  daily  scale  rates,  if  he  be  employed  on  time  work,  or 
on  the  basis  of  his  average  daily  earnings  if  he  be  em- 
ployed on  piece  work. 

77.  A  worker  shall  be  paid  his  wage  during  leave  of  ab- 
sence (Sections  106-107). 

78.  During  illness  of  a  worker  the  remuneration  due 
him  shall  be  paid  as  a  subsidy  from  the  hospital  fund. 

Note.  The  manner  of  payment  of  the  subsidy  is  fixed 
by  rules  appended  hereto  (page  39). 

79.  Unemployed  shall  receive  a  subsidy  out  of  the  fund 
for  unemployed. 

Note.  Rules  concerning  unemployed  and  the  payment  of 
subsidies  to  them  are  appended  hereto   (page  41). 

80.  Every  worker  must  have  a  labor  booklet  in  which 
all  matters  pertaining  to  the  work  done  by  him,  as  well 
as  the  payments  and  subsidies  received  by  him,  are  to  be 
entered. 

Note.  Rules  regarding  labor  booklets  are  appended 
hereto   (page  44). 


26 


ARTICLE  VII 
Working  Hours 

81.  Working  hours  shall  be  regulated  by  rules  made 
for  each  kind  of  labor,  in  the  manner  described  in  Sections 
7  to  9  of  the  present  Code. 

82.  The  rules  relating  to  working  hours  must  conform 
witli  the  provisions  of  this  article  of  the  Code  of  Labor 
Laws. 

83.  A  normal  working  day  shall  mean  the  time  fixed 
by  the  scale  regulations  for  the  production  of  a  certain 
amount  of  work. 

84.  The  duration  of  a  normal  working  day  must  in  no 
case  exceed  eight  hours  for  day  work  and  seven  hours  for 
night  work. 

85.  The  duration  of  a  normal  day  must  not  exceed  six 
hours:  (a)  for  persons  under  18  years  of  age,  and  (b) 
in  especially  hard  or  health-endangering  branches  of  in- 
dustry (note  to  Section  14  of  the  present  Code). 

86.  During  the  normal  working  day  time  must  be  al- 
lowed for  meals  and  for  rest. 

87.  During  recess  machines,  beltings  and  lathes  must 
be  stopped,  unless  this  be  impossible  owing  to  technical 
conditions  or  in  cases  where  these  machines,  belting,  etc., 
serve  for  ventilations,  drainage,  lighting,  etc. 

88.  The  time  of  recess  fixed  by  Section  86  is  not  in- 
cluded in  the  working  hours. 

89.  The  recess  must  take  place  not  later  than  four  hours 
after  the  beginning  of  the  working  day,  and  must  continue 
not  less  than  a  half  hour  and  not  more  than  two  hours. 

Note.  Additional  intermissions  every  three  hours,  and 
for  not  less  than  a  half  hour,  must  be  allowed  for  working 
women  who  are  nursing  children. 

90.  The  wage  earners  may  use  their  free  time  at  their 
own  discretion.  They  shall  be  allowed  during  recess  to 
leave  the  place  of  work. 

27 


91.  In  case  the  nature  of  the  work  requires  a  working 
day  in  excess  of  the  normal  working  day  fixed  for  the  given 
class  of  labor,  two  or  more  shifts  may  be  engaged. 

92.  Where  there  are  several  shifts,  each  shift  shall  work 
the  normal  working  day;  the  change  of  shifts  must  take 
place  during  the  time  fixed  by  the  rules  of  the  internal 
management  without  interfering  with  the  normal  course 
of  work. 

93.  As  a  general  rule,  work  in  excess  of  the  normal 
hours   (overtime  work)   shall  not  be  permitted. 

94.  Overtime  work  may  be  permitted  in  the  following 
exceptional  cases: 

(a)  Where  the  work  is  necessary  for  the  prevention 
of  a  public  calamity  or  in  case  the  existence  of  the 
Government  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federal  Soviet 
Republic  or  human  life  is  endangered; 

(b)  In  emergency  public  work  connected  with  water 
supply,  lighting,  sewerage  or  transportation,  in  case 
of  accident  or  extraordinary  interruption  of  their  regu- 
lar operation; 

(c)  When  work  has  to  be  completed  which  owing 
to  unforeseen  or  accidental  delay  due  to  technical 
conditions  of  production  could  not  be  completed  dur- 
ing the  normal  working  hours,  if  leaving  the  work 
unfinished  would  cause  damage  to  materials  or  ma- 
chinery; 

(d)  On  repairs  or  renewal  of  machine  parts  or  con- 
struction work,  wherever  necessary  to  prevent  stoppage 
of  work  by  a  considerable  number  of  workers. 

95.  In  the  case  described  in  subdivision  "c"  of  Section 
94,  overtime  work  is  permissible  only  with  the  consent  of 
the  respective  trade  unions. 

96.  For  overtime  work  described  in  subdivision  "d"  of 
Section  94  permission  must  be  obtained  from  the  local 
labor  inspection,  in  addition  to  the  permit  mentioned  in 
the  preceding  section. 

97.  No  females  and  no  males  under  18  years  of  age  may 
do  any  overtime  work. 

98.  The  time  spent  on  overtime  work  in  the  course  of 
two  consecutive  days  must  not  exceed  4  hours. 

99.  No  ovarii  me  work  shall  be  permitted  to  make  up 
for  a  worker's  tardiness  in  reporting  at  his  place  of  work. 

28 


100.  All  overtime  work  done  by  a  worker,  as  well  as 
the  remuneration  received  by  him  for  the  same,  must  be 
recorded  in  his  labor  booklet. 

101.  The  total  number  of  days  on  which  overtime  may 
be  permitted  in  any  enterprise,  establishment  or  institu- 
tion must  not  exceed  50  days  per  annum,  including  such 
days  when  even  one  worker  worked  overtime. 

102.  Every  enterprise,  establishment  or  institution  must 
keep  a  special  record  book  for  overtime  work. 

103.  All  workers  must  be  allowed  a  weekly  uninter- 
rupted rest  of  not  less  than  42  hours. 

104.  No  work  shall  be  done  on  specially  designated 
holidays. 

Note.  Rules  concerning  holidays  and  days  of  weekly 
rest  are  appended  hereto. 

105.  On  the  eve  of  rest  days  the  normal  working  day 
shall  be  reduced  by  two  hours. 

Note.  This  section  shall  not  apply  to  institutions  and 
enterprises  where  the  working  day  does  not  exceed  six 
hours. 

106.  Every  worker  who  has  worked  without  interruption 
not  less  than  six  months  shall  be  entitled  to  leave  of  ab- 
sence for  two  weeks,  irrespective  of  whether  he  worked 
in  only  one  or  in  several  enterprises,  establishments  or 
institutions. 

107.  Every  worker  who  has  worked  without  interrup- 
tion not  less  than  a  year  shall  be  entitled  to  leave  of  ab- 
sence for  one  month,  irrespective  of  whether  he  worked 
in  only  one  or  in  several  enterprises,  establishments  or 
institutions. 

Note.  Sections  106  and  107  shall  take  effect  beginning 
January  1,  1919. 

108.  Leave  of  absence  may  be  granted  during  the  whole 
year,  provided  that  the  same  does  not  interfere  with  the 
normal  course  of  work  in  the  enterprise,  establishment  or 
institution. 

109.  The  time  and  order  in  which  leave  of  absence  may 
be  granted  shall  be  determined  by  agreement  between  the 
management  of  the  enterprise,  establishment  or  institution 
and  proper  self-government  bodies  of  the  workers  (works 
and  kindred  committees). 

110.  A  worker  shall  not  be  at  liberty  to  work  for  re- 
muneration during  his  leave  of  absence. 

29 


111.  The  remuneration  of  a  worker  earned  during 
his  leave  of  absence  shall  be  deducted  from  his  regular 
wages. 

112.  The  absence  of  a  worker  from  work  caused  by 
special  circumstances  and  permitted  by  the  manager  shall 
not  be  counted  as  leave  of  absence;  the  worker  shall  not 
be  paid  for  the  working  hours  lost  in  such  cases. 


30 


ARTICLE  VIII 

Methods  to  Secure  Efficiency  of  Labor 

113.  In  order  to  secure  efficiency  of  labor,  every  worker 
in  an  enterprise,  establishment  or  institution  (govern- 
mental, public  or  private)  employing  paid  labor  in  the 
form  of  organized  cooperation,  as  well  as  the  administra- 
tion of  the  enterprise,  establishment  or  institution,  shall 
strictly  observe  the  rules  of  this  article  of  the  Code  relative 
to  standards  of  efficiency,  output  and  rules  of  internal  man- 
agement. 

114.  Every  worker  must  during  a  normal  working  day 
and  under  normal  working  conditions  perform  the  standard 
amount  of  work  fixed  for  the  category  and  group  in  which 
he  is  enrolled. 

Note.  Normal  conditions  referred  to  in  this  section  shall 
mean: 

(a)  Good  condition  of  machines,  lathes  and  acces- 
sories ; 

(b)  Timely  delivery  of  materials  and  tools  neces- 
sary for  the  perfonnance  of  the  work; 

(c)  Good  quality  of  materials  and  tools; 

(d)  Proper  hygienic  and  sanitary  equipment  of  the 
buildings  where  the  work  is  performed  (necessary 
lighting,  heating,  etc.). 

115.  The  standard  output  for  workers  of  each  trade  and 
of  each  group  and  category  shall  be  fixed  by  valuation  com- 
missions of  the  respective  trade  unions   (Section  61). 

116.  In  determining  the  standard  output  the  valuation 
commission  shall  take  into  consideration  the  quantity  of 
products  usually  turned  out  in  the  course  of  a  normal 
working  day  and  under  normal  technical  conditions  by  the 
workers  of  the  particular  trade,  group  and  category. 

117.  The  production  standards  of  output  adopted  by  the 
valuation  commission  must  be  approved  by  the  proper  De- 
partment of  Labor  jointly  with  the  Council  of  National 
Economy. 

31 


118.  A  worker  habitually  producing  less  than  the  fixed 
standard  may  be  transferred  by  decision  of  the  proper 
valuation  commission  to  other  work  in  the  same  group  and 
category,  or  to  a  lower  group  or  category,  with  a  corre- 
sponding reduction  of  wages. 

Note.  The  worker  may  appeal  from  the  decision  to 
transfer  him  to  a  lower  group  or  category  with  a  reduc- 
tion of  wages,  to  the  local  Department  of  Labor  and  from 
the  decision  of  the  latter  to  the  District  Department  of 
Labor,  whose  decision  shall  be  final  and  not  subject  to 
further  appeal. 

119.  If  a  worker's  failure  to  maintain  the  standard  out- 
put be  due  to  lack  of  good  faith  and  to  negligence  on  his 
part,  he  may  be  discharged  in  the  manner  set  forth  in 
subdivision  "c"  of  Section  46  without  the  two  weeks'  notice 
prescribed  by  Section  47. 

120.  The  Supreme  Council  of  National  Economy  jointly 
with  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor  may  direct  a 
general  increase  or  decrease  of  the  standards  of  efficiency 
and  output  for  all  workers  and  for  all  enterprises,  estab- 
lishments and  institutions  of  a  given  district. 

121.  In  addition  to  the  regulation  of  the  present  article 
relative  to  standards  of  efficiency  and  output  in  enterprises, 
establishments  and  institutions,  efficiency  of  labor  shall  be 
secured  by  rules  of  internal  management. 

122.  The  rules  of  internal  management  in  Soviet  insti- 
tutions shall  be  made  by  the  organs  of  Soviet  authority 
with  the  approval  of  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor 
or  its  local  departments. 

123.  The  rules  of  internal  management  in  industrial 
enterprises  and  establishments  (Soviet,  nationalized,  private 
and  public)  shall  be  made  by  the  trade  unions  and  certi- 
fied by  the  proper  Departments  of  Labor. 

124.  The  rules  of  internal  management  must  include 
clear,  precise,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  exhaustive  directions 
in  relation  to — 

(a)  The  general  obligations  of  all  workers  (care- 
ful handling  of  all  materials  and  tools,  compliance 
with  instructions  of  the  managers  regarding  perform- 
ance of  work,  observance  of  the  fixed  standard  of  work- 
ing hours,  etc.)  ; 

(b)  The  special  duties  of  the  workers  of  the 
particular  branch  of  industry  (careful  handling  of 
the   fire   in    enterprises    using    inflammable    materials, 

32 


observance  of  special  cleanliness  in  enterprises  pro- 
ducing food  products,  etc.) ; 

(c)  The  limit  and  manner  of  liability  for  breach 
of  the  duties  mentioned  above  in  subdivisions  "a" 
and  "b". 

125.  The  enforcement  of  rules  of  internal  manage- 
ment in  Soviet  institutions  is  entrusted  to  the  responsibile 
managers  of  these  institutions. 

126.  The  enforcement  of  the  rules  of  internal  manage- 
ment in  industrial  enterprises  and  establishments  (Soviet, 
nationalized,  public  and  private)  is  entrusted  to  the  self- 
government  bodies  of  the  workers  (works  or  similar 
committees) . 


33 


ARTICLE  IX 
Protection   of   Labor 

127.  Protection  of  the  life,  health  and  labor  of  per- 
sons engaged  in  any  economic  activity  is  entrusted  to  the 
labor  inspection,  the  technical  inspectors  and  the  repre- 
sentatives of  sanitary  inspection. 

128.  The  labor  inspection  is  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor  and  its  local  branches 
(Departments  of  Labor)  and  is  composed  of  elected  labor 
inspectors. 

129.  Labor  inspectors  shall  be  elected  by  the  Councils 
of  Trade  Unions. 

Note  I.  The  manner  of  election  of  labor  inspectors  shall 
be  determined  by  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor. 

Note  II.  In  districts  where  there  is  no  Council  of  Trade 
Unions,  the  Local  Department  of  Labor  shall  summon  a 
conference  of  representatives  of  the  trade  unions  which 
shall  elect  the  labor  inspectors. 

130.  In  performing  the  duties  imposed  upon  them  con- 
cerning the  protection  of  the  lives  and  health  of 
workers  the  officers  of  labor  inspection  shall  enforce  the 
regulations  of  the  present  Code,  and  the  decrees,  instruc- 
tions, orders  and  other  acts  of  the  Soviet  authority  intended 
to  safeguard  the  lives  and  health  of  the  workers. 

131.  For  tlie  attainment  of  the  purposes  stated  in  Sec- 
tion 130  the  officers  of  labor  inspection  are  authorized — 

(a)  To  visit  at  any  time  of  the  day  or  night  all  the 
industrial  enterprises  of  their  districts  and  all  places 
where  work  is  carried  on,  as  well  as  the  buildings 
provided  for  the  workmen  by  the  enterprise  (rooming 
houses,  hospitals,  day  nurseries,  baths,  etc.)  ; 

(b)  To  require  the  managers  of  enterprises  or  estab- 
lishments, as  well  as  the  elective  officials  of  the 
workers  (works  and  similar  committees)  of  those 
enterprises  or  establishments  in  the  management  of 
which  they  are  participating,  to  produce  all  necessary 
books,  records  and  information; 

(c)  To  draw  to  the  work  of  inspection  representa- 
tives of  the  elective  organizations  of  employees,  as  well 

34 


as  officials  of  the  administration    (managers,  superin- 
tendents, foremen,  etc.)  ; 

(d)  To  bring  before  the  criminal  court  all  violators 
of  the  regulations  of  the  present  Code,  or  of  the 
decrees,  instructions,  orders  and  other  acts  of  the 
Soviet  authority  intended  to  safeguard  the  lives  and 
health  of  the  workers; 

(e)  To  take  part  in  the  proceedings  of  trade  unions 
and  works  committees  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
the  labor  conditions  in  individual  enterprises  as  well 
as  in  entire  branches  of  industry. 

132.  The  officers  of  labor  inspection  are  authorized  to 
adopt  special  measures,  in  addition  to  the  measures  men- 
tioned in  the  preceding  section,  for  the  removal  of  conditions 
endangering  the  lives  and  health  of  workmen,  even  if  such 
measures  have  not  been  provided  for  by  any  particular  law 
or  regulation,  instructions  or  order  of  the  People's  Com- 
missariat of  Labor  or  of  the  Local  Department  of  Labor. 

Note.  Upon  taking  special  measures  to  safeguard  the 
lives  and  health  of  workers,  as  authorized  by  the 
present  section,  the  officers  of  the  inspection  shall  imme- 
diately report  thereof  to  the  Local  Department  of  Labor, 
which  may  either  approve  these  measures  or  reject  them. 

133.  The  scope  of  the  forms  of  activity  of  the  organs 
of  labor  inspection  shall  be  determined  by  instructions  and 
orders  issued  by  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor. 

134.  The  enforcement  of  the  instructions,  rules  and 
regulations  relating  to  safety  appliances  is  entrusted  to  the 
technical  inspectors. 

135.  The  technical  inspectors  shall  be  appointed  by  the 
local  Divisions  of  Labor  from  among  engineering  specialists; 
these  inspectors  shall  perform  within  their  jurisdiction  the 
duties  prescribed  by  Section  131  of  the  present  Code. 

136.  The  technical  inspectors  shall  be  guided  in  their 
activity,  besides  the  general  regulations,  by  the  instructions 
and  orders  of  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor  and  by 
the  instructions  issued  by  the  technical  division  of  the 
local  Division  of  Labor. 

137.  The  activity  of  tlie  sanitary  inspection  shall  be 
determined  by  instructions  issued  by  the  People's  Com- 
missariat of  Health  Protection  jointly  with  the  People's 
Commissariat  of  Labor. 

35 


APPENDIX  TO  SECTION  5 

(See  page  15  above) 

Rules   for  the  Determination  of  Disability  for   Work 

1.  Disability  for  work  shall  be  determined  by  an  exam- 
ination of  the  applicant  by  the  Bureau  of  Medical  Experts, 
of  the  city,  regional,  or  provincial  insurance  fund,  as  well 
as  of  accident  insurance  funds,  or  institutions  acting  as 
such. 

Note.  In  case  it  be  impossible  to  organize  a  Bureau  of 
Medical  Experts  at  any  insurance  office,  such  a  Bureau 
may  be  organized  at  the  Medical  Sanitary  Department  of 
the  local  Soviet,  provided,  however,  that  the  said  Bureau 
shall  be  guided  in  its  actions  by  the  general  rules  and 
instructions  for  insurance  funds. 

2.  The  staff  of  the  Bureau  of  Experts  shall  include: 

(a)  Not  less  than  three  physicians; 

(b)  Representatives   of  the   Board  of  Directors  of 
the  insurance  fund; 

(c)  Sanitary    mechanical    engineers    appointed    by 
the  Board  of  the  insurance  fund; 

(d)  Representatives  of   the  trade  unions. 

Note.  The  physicians  on  the  staflf  of  the  Bureau  shall 
be  recommended  by  the  medical  sanitary  department,  with 
the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  preferably  from 
among  the  physicians  connected  with  the  hospital  fund, 
and  shall  be  confirmed  by  a  general  meeting  of  the  in- 
surance fund. 

3.  During  the  examination  of  a  person  at  the  Bureau 
of  the  Medical  Commission,  all  persons  who  have  applied 
for  the  examination  may  be  present. 

4.  Proceedings  for  the  determination  of  the  loss  of 
working  ability  may  be  instituted  by  any  person  or  insti- 
tution. 

5.  Applications  for  examination  shall  be  made  to  the 
insurance  office  nearest  to  the  residence  of  the  person  in 
question. 

36 


6.  Examination  shall  take  place  in  a  special  room  of 
the  insurance  office. 

Note.  If  die  person  to  be  examined  cannot  be  brought 
to  the  insurance  office,  owing  to  his  condition,  the  exam- 
ination may  take  place  at  his  residence. 

7.  Every  person  who  is  to  be  examined  at  the  Bureau 
of  Medical  Experts  shall  be  informed  by  the  respective 
insurance  office  of  the  day  and  hour  set  for  the  examina- 
tion and  of  the  location  of  the  section  of  the  Bureau  of 
Medical  Experts  where  the  same  is  to  take  place. 

8.  The  Bureau  of  Medical  Experts  may  use  all  methods 
approved  by  medical  science  for  determining  disability  for 
work. 

9.  The  Bureau  of  Medical  Experts  shall  keep  detailed 
minutes  of  the  conference  meetings,  and  the  record  em- 
bodying the  results  of  the  examination  shall  be  signed 
by  all  members  of  the  Bureau. 

10.  A  person  who  has  undergone  an  examination  and 
has  been  found  unfit  for  work  shall  receive  a  certificate 
from  the  Bureau  of  Medical  Experts. 

Note.  A  copy  of  the  certificate  shall  be  kept  in  the  files 
of  the  Bureau. 

11.  The  records  as  well  as  the  certificates  shall  show 
whether  the  disability  is  of  a  permanent  or  temporary 
character.  If  the  disability  for  work  he  temporary,  the 
record  and  certificate  shall  show  the  date  set  for  a  second 
examination. 

12.  After  the  disability  for  work  has  been  certified  the 
proper  insurance  office  shall  inform  thereof  the  Department 
of  Social  Insurance  of  the  local  Soviet,  stating  the  name, 
sumame  and  address  of  the  person  disabled,  as  well  as 
the  character  of  the  disability  (whether  temporary  or 
permanent). 

13.  The  decision  of  the  Bureau  of  Medical  Experts 
certifying  or  denying  the  disability  of  the  applicant  may 
be  appealed  from  by  the  interested  parties  to  the  People's 
Commissariat  of  Health  Protection. 

14.  The  People's  Commissariat  of  Health  Protection 
may  either  dismiss  the  appeal  or  issue  an  order  for  tlie 
re-examination  of  appellant  by  a  new  staff  of  the  Bureau 
of  Experts. 

15.  The  decision  of  the  new  staff  of  the  Bureau  of 
Experts  shall  be  final  and  subject  to  no  further  appeal. 

37 


16.  Re-examination  to  establish  the  recovery  of  work- 
ing ability  shall  be  conducted  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
first  examination,  with  the  obsei-vance  of  the  regulations  of 
the  present  Rules. 

17.  The  expenses  incurred  in  connection  with  the  ex- 
amination of  an  insured  person  shall  be  charged  to  the 
respective  insurance  office.  The  expenses  incurred  in  con- 
nection with  the  examination  of  a  person  not  insured  shall 
be  charged  to  the  respective  enterprise,  establishment  or 
institution. 

18.  The  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor  may,  if  neces- 
sary, modify  or  amend  the  present  Rules  for  the  determina- 
tion of  disability  for  work. 


38 


APPENDIX  TO  SECTION  78 

(See  page  26  above) 

Rules   Concerning  Payment  of   Sick  Benefits    (Subsidies) 
to  Workers 

1.  Every  worker  shall  receive  during  sickness  a  subsidy 
and  medical  aid  from  the  local  hospital  fund  of  which 
he  is  a  member. 

Note  I.  Each  person  may  be  a  member  of  only  one 
insurance  fund   at  a  time. 

Note  II.  A  person  who  has  been  ill  outside  the  district 
of  the  local  hospital  fund  of  which  he  is  a  member  shall 
receive  the  subsidy  from  the  hospital  fund  of  the  district 
in  which  he  has  been  taken  ill.  All  expenses  thus  in- 
curred shall  be  charged  to  the  hospital  fund  of  which 
the  particular  person  is  a  member. 

2.  The  sick  benefits  shall  be  paid  to  a  member  of 
a  hospital  fund  from  the  first  day  of  his  sickness  until 
the  day  of  his  recovery,  with  the  exception  of  those  days 
during  which  he  has  worked  and  accordingly  received  re- 
muneration from  the  enterprise,  establishment  or  institu- 
tion where  he  is  employed. 

3.  The  sick  benefit  shall  be  equal  to  the  remuneration 
fixed  for  a  worker  of  the  respective  group  and   category. 

Note  I.  The  group  and  category  in  which  the  worker 
is  enrolled  shall  be  ascertained  by  the  local  hospi- 
tal fund  through  the  Division  of  Labor  Distribution 
and  through  the  trade  unions. 

Note  II.  The  subsidy  for  pregnant  women  and  those 
lying-in  shall  be  fixed  by  special  regulations  of  the 
People's  Commissariat  of  Labor. 

Note  III.  In  exceptional  cases  the  People's  Commis- 
sariat of  Labor  may  reduce  the  subsidy  to  the  minimum 
of  living  expenses  as  determined  for  the  respective  district. 

4.  Besides  the  subsidies,  the  hospital  funds  shall  also 
provide  for  their  members  free  medical  aid  of  every  kind 
(first  aid,  ambulatory  treatment,  home  treatment,  treat- 
ment in  sanatoria  or  resorts,  etc.). 

39 


Note.  To  secure  medical  aid  any  hospital  fund  may 
independently,  or  in  conjunction  with  other  local  funds, 
organize  and  maintain  its  own  ambulatories,  hospitals, 
etc.,  as  well  as  enter  into  agreements  with  individual  phy- 
sicians and   establishments. 

5.  The  resources  of  the  local  hospital  funds  shall  be 
derived : 

(a)  From  obligatory  payments  by  enterprises,  estab- 
lishments and  institutions  (Soviet,  public  and  private) 
employing  paid  labor; 

(b)  From  fines  for  delay  of  payments; 

(c)  From  profits  on  the  investments  of  the  funds; 

(d)  From  casual  payments. 

Note.  The  resources  of  the  local  hospital  funds  shall 
be  consolidated  into  one  common  fund  of  insurance  against 
sickness. 

6.  The  amount  of  the  payments  to  local  hospital  funds 
by  enterprises,  establishments  and  institutions  employing 
paid  labor  shall  be  periodically  fixed  by  the  People's  Com- 
missariat of  Labor. 

Note  I.  In  case  these  obligatory  payments  be  not  paid 
within  the  time  fixed  by  the  local  hospital  funds,  they 
shall  be  collected  by  the  local  Department  of  Labor; 
moreover,  in  addition  to  the  sum  due,  a  fine  of  10  per  cent, 
thereof  shall  be  imposed  for  the  benefit  of  the  hospital 
fund. 

Note  II.  In  case  the  delay  be  due  to  the  fault  of  the 
responsible  managers  of  the  particular  enterprise,  estab- 
lishment, or  institution,  the  fine  shall  be  collected  from  the 
personal  means  of  the  latter. 

7.  The  decision  of  the  hospital  funds  may  be  appealed 
from  within  two  weeks  to  the  Department  of  Labor.  The 
decision  of  the  Departments  of  Labor  shall  be  final  and 
subject  to  no  further  appeal. 

8.  The  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor  may,  whenever 
necessary,  change  or  amend  the  foregoing  rules  concerning 
sick  benefits  to  workers. 


40 


APPENDIX  TO  SECTION  79 

(See  page  26  above) 
Rules  Concerning  Unemployed  and  Payment  of  Subsidies 

1.  "Unemployed"  shall  mean  every  citizen  of  the  Rus- 
sian Socialist  Federal  Soviet  Republic  subject  to  labor 
duty  who  is  registered  with  the  local  Division  of  Labor 
Distribution  as  being  out  of  work  at  his  vocation  or  at  the 
remuneration  fixed  by  the  proper  tariff. 

2.  "Unemployed"  shall  likewise  mean: 

(a)  Any  person  who  has  obtained  employment  for 
a  term  not  exceeding  two  weeks  (Section  25  of  the 
present   Code)  ; 

(b)  Any  person  who  is  temporarily  employed  out- 
side his  vocation,  until  he  shall  obtain  work  at  his 
vocation   (Sections  29  and  30  of  the  present  Code). 

3.  The   rights  of   unemployed  shall   not  be  extended — 

(a)  To  persons  who  in  violation  of  Sections  21,  24 
and  29  of  the  present  Code,  have  evaded  the  labor 
duty,  and  refused  work  offered  to  them; 

(b)  To  persons  not  registered  as  unemployed  with 
the  local  Division  of  Labor  Distribution  (Section 
21  of  the  present  Code)  ; 

(c)  To  persons  who  have  wilfully  quit  work,  during 
the  term  specified  in  Section  53  of  the  present  Code. 
4.     All     persons     described     in     Sections     1     and     2 

of  these  Rules  shall  be  entitled  to  permanent 
employment  (for  a  term  exceeding  two  weeks)  at 
their  vocations  in  the  order  of  priority  determined  by  the 
list  of  the  Division  of  Labor  Distribution  for  each 
vocation. 

5.  Persons  described  in  Section  1  and  subdivision  "b" 
of  Section  2  of  these  Rules  shall  be  entitled  to  a  subsidy 
from  the  local   fund   for  unemployed. 

6.  The  subsidy  to  unemployed  provided  in  Section  1 
of  the  present  Rules  shall  be  equal  to  the  remuneration 
fixed  by  the  scale  for  the  group  and  category  to  which 

41 


the    worker    was    assigned    by    the    valuation    commission 
(Section  61). 

Note.  In  exceptional  cases  the  People's  Commissariat 
of  Labor  may  reduce  the  unemployed  subsidy  to  the  mini- 
mum of  living  expenses  as  determined  for  the  district  in 
question. 

7.  A  worker  employed  temporarily  outside  of  his  voca- 
tion (Subdivision  "b"  of  Section  2  of  these  Rules)  shall 
receive  a  subsidy  equal  to  the  difference  between  the  re- 
muneration fixed  for  the  group  and  category  in  which  he 
is  enrolled  and  his  actual  remuneration,  in  case  the  latter 
be  less  than  the  former. 

8.  An  unemployed  who  desires  to  avail  himself  of  his 
right  to  a  subsidy  shall  apply  to  the  local  fund  for  unem- 
ployed and  shall  present  the  following  documents:  (a)  his 
registration  card  from  the  local  Division  of  Labor  Dis- 
tribution; and  (b)  a  certificate  of  the  valuation  commission 
showing  his  assignment  to  a  definite  group  and  category 
of  workers. 

9.  Before  the  subsidy  is  paid  the  fact  of  unemployment 
and  the  reason  thereof  must  be  verified  and  the  group  and 
category  to  which  the  unemployed  belongs  must  be  ascer- 
tained. The  verification  shall  be  made  by  tlie  local  fund 
for  unemployed,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Division  of 
Labor  Distribution  and  the  respective  trade  union. 

10.  The  local  fund  for  unemployed  may  for  good  rea- 
sons deny  the  application  for  a  subsidy. 

IL  If  an  application  is  denied,  the  local  fund  for  un- 
employed shall,  within  three  days  from  the  filing  of  the 
application,  inform  the  applicant  thereof. 

12.  The  decision  of  the  local  fund  for  unemployed  may 
within  two  weeks  be  appealed  from  by  the  interested  par- 
ties to  the  local  Department  of  Labor,  and  the  decision 
of  the  latter  may  be  appealed  from  to  the  District  Depart- 
ment of  Labor.  The  decision  of  the  District  Department 
of  Labor  shall  be  final  and  subject  to  no  further  appeal. 

13.  The  payment  of  the  subsidy  to  an  unemployed  shall 
commence  only  after  he  has  actually  been  laid  oflF,  but  not 
later  than  after  the  fourth  day. 

14.  The  subsidies  shall  be  paid  from  the  fund  of  un- 
employment insurance. 

42 


15.  The  fund  of  unemployment  insurance  shall  be  made 
up— 

(a)  from    obligatory    payments    by    all    enterprises, 
establishments  and  institutions  employing  wage  labor; 

(b)  from   fines   and   penalties   imposed   for   arrears 
in  such  payments; 

(c)  from  casual  income. 

16.  The  amount  and  the  manner  of  collection  of  the 
payments  and  fines  mentioned  in  Section  15  of  these  Rules 
shall  be  determined  every  year  by  a  special  order  of 
the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor. 


43 


APPENDIX  TO  SECTION  80 

(See  page  26  above) 

Rules  Concerning  Labor  Booklets 

1.  All  able-bodied  citizens  of  the  Russian  Socialist 
Federal  Soviet  Republic,  upon  their  assignment  by  the 
valuation  commissariat  of  the  trade  unions  to  a  definite 
group  and  category  (Section  61  of  the  present  Code),  shall 
be  given  labor  booklets  free  of  charge. 

Note.  The  form  of  the  labor  booklets  shall  be  worked 
out  by  the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor. 

2.  Each  worker,  on  entering  the  employment  of 
an  enterprise,  establishment  or  institution  employing  paid 
labor  in  the  form  of  organized  cooperation,  shall  present 
his  labor  booklet  to  the  management  thereof,  and  on  en- 
tering the  employment  of  a  private  individual,  to  the 
latter. 

Note.  A  copy  of  the  labor  booklet  shall  be  kept  by 
the  management  of  the  enterprise,  establishment,  institu- 
tion or  by  the  private  individual  by  whom  the  worker 
is  employed. 

3.  All  work  performed  by  a  worker  during  the  normal 
working  day  as  well  as  piece  work  or  overtime  work,  and 
all  payments  received  by  him  as  worker  (remuneration 
in  money  or  in  kind,  subsidies  from  the  unemployment 
and  hospital  funds),  must  be  entered  in  his  labor  booklet. 

Note.  In  the  labor  booklet  must  also  be  entered  the 
leaves  of  absence  and  sick  leave  of  the  worker,  as 
well  as  the  fines  imposed  on  him  during  and  on  account 
of  his  work. 

4.  Each  entry  in  the  labor  booklet  must  be  dated  and 
signed  by  the  person  making  the  entry,  and  also  by  the 
worker  (if  the  latter  is  literate),  who  thereby  certi- 
fies the  correctness  of  the  entry. 

5.  The  labor  booklet  shall  contain: 

(a)   The   name,  surname   and   date  of  birth  of  the 
worker; 

44 


(b)  The  name  and  address  of  the  trade  union  of 
which  the  worker  is  a  member; 

(c)  The  group  and  category  to  which  the  worker 
has  been  assigned  by  the  valuation  commission. 

6.  Upon  the  discharge  of  a  worker,  his  labor  book- 
let shall  under  no  circumstances  be  withheld  from  him. 
Whenever  an  old  booklet  is  replaced  by  a  new  one,  the 
former  shall  be  left  in  possession  of  the  worker. 

7.  In  case  a  worker  loses  his  labor  booklet,  he 
shall  be  provided  with  a  new  one  into  which  shall  be 
copied  all  the  entries  of  the  lost  booklet;  in  such  a 
case  a  fee  determined  by  the  rules  of  internal  management 
may  be  charged  to  the  worker  for  the  new  booklet. 

8.  A  worker  must  present  his  labor  booklet  upon 
the  request: 

(a)  Of   the  managers   of  the   enterprise,   establish- 
ment or  institution  where  he  is  employed; 

(b)  Of  the  Division  of  Labor  Distribution; 

(c)  Of  the  trade  unions; 

(d)  Of   the   officials   of  workmen's   control   and    of 
labor  protection; 

(e)  Of  the   insurance  offices  or  institutions   acting 
as  such. 


45 


Supplement 

THE  PROTECTION  OF  LABOR  IN 
SOVIET  RUSSIA 

By  S.  Kaplun 
of  the  Commissariat  of  Labob 


PROTECTION  OF  LABOR  IN  SOVIET  RUSSIA. 

By  S.  Kaplun,  oj  the  Commissariat  of  Labor. 

1,     Protection  of  Labor   in  Soviet  Russia  before 
the  establishment  of  the  Soviet  Government. 

'T^HE  Soviet  Government,  the  government  of  the 
workers  and  the  poorest  peasants,  was  the  first 
seriously  to  raise  in  Russia  the  question  of  social 
protection  of  labor. 

Under  the  Czarist  Government,  which  was  the 
embodiment  of  the  whip  and  the  fist,  all  the  instruc- 
tions and  wishes  of  the  landlord  class  and  big  man- 
ufacturers were  faithfully  carried  out.  Naturally 
enough,  factory  legislation  was  in  a  more  backward 
state  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  In  ac- 
cordance with  the  Law  of  1897,  the  working  day 
officially  was  11^/^  hours,  while  in  reality  the  work- 
man was  compelled  to  work  far  longer  than  that; 
this  was  due  to  the  great  amount  of  overtime — 
compulsory  and  "uncompulsory,"  the  latter  only  on 
paper; — in  actual  life  extreme  destitution  and  the 
complete  absence  of  rights  of  the  workers  com- 
pelled them  fully  to  submit  to  all  the  proposals  of 
the  manufacturers.  Children  were  permitted  to  go 
to  work  even  at  the  age  of  12;  according  to  the 
law  of  1882  youngsters  up  to  the  age  of  15  were 
forbidden  to  be  engaged  at  night  work,  whilst  dur- 
ing the  day  their  labor  was  not  to  exceed  8  hours. 

Even  these  inadequate  laws,  however,  soon  ap- 
peared to  be  too  great  a  compromise  in  the  eyes  of 

48 


the  "European  gendarme,"  and  subsequently  Czar- 
ism  gave  to  the  manufacturers  a  great  number  of 
loopholes  and  means  to  evade  the  law.  The  first 
step  in  this  direction  was  the  permission  of  un- 
interrupted 6  hour  work  instead  of  the  former  4 
hour  work  for  children.  When  working  two  shifts 
children  were  allowed  to  be  engaged  for  9  hours 
a  day  during  the  two  shifts  instead  of  the  maximum 
8  hour  working  day  according  to  the  law  of  1882. 
Night  work  was  permitted  for  children  in  the  glass 
industry  although  from  a  hygienic  point  of  view 
this  is  one  of  the  most  harmful  trades;  yet  this 
night  work  was  permitted  owing  to  the  fact  that 
it  was  demanded  by  the  interests  of  the  industrial 
magnates.  Further,  the  factory  inspection  was 
given  the  right  to  permit  Sunday  and  holiday  work 
for  children.  Finally,  night  work,  which  was 
generally  prohibited  by  law  to  children  and  women 
could  be  sanctioned  by  the  factory  and  works 
managements,  or  by  the  governor  of  the  gubernia,* 
in  all  cases  where  such  children  were  engaged  in 
work  together  with  their  parents,  that  is  to  say, 
this  night  work  became  a  general  rule. 

With  regard  to  the  protection  of  woman  labor, 
nothing  at  all  was  undertaken.  No  care  whatso- 
ever was  taken  of  the  sanitary  and  hygienic  state 
of  factories  or  workshops.  In  the  sphere  of 
technical  safety  and  safeguards  from  dangerous 
machines,  the  government  acted  very  timidly,  almost 
refraining  from  establishing  any  important  rules  or 
obligatory  regulations. 

Little  can  be  said  of  the  rights  of  the  workers. 
Absolute  rule  of  the  employer,  endless  fines  and 
impositions,  dismissals  of  workers  without  serious 
reason,  constant  interference  of  the  police,  and  arm- 

*  Province.  49 


ed  force  at  the  first  sign  of  agitation  of  the  work- 
ers,— such  is  the  well  remembered  picture  of 
Russian  factory  life.  Equally  little  was  done  in 
the  sphere  of  social  maintenance  of  the  workers  in 
the  event  of  loss  of  livelihood.  Social  insurance, 
which  developed  by  the  legislation  of  1912,  provid- 
ed only  for  cases  of  sickness  and  accidents.  But 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  workers  were  heavily 
taxed  for  state  insurance,  unemployable  men  were 
given  a  most  beggarly  assistance.  And  even  here 
insurance  did  not  by  any  means  embrace  all  the 
workers. 

Especially  important  was  the  character  of  those 
organs  which  were  charged  with  the  enforcement 
of  the  laws  for  the  protection  of  labor.  The  direct 
agents  of  supervision  were  the  factory  inspectors — 
state  officials  who  submissively  carried  out  all  the 
instructions  of  capital. 

In  accordance  with  the  laws,  instructions,  and 
circulars,  they  were  to  work  in  the  closest  possible 
collaboration  with  the  police  and  were  even  direct- 
ly subordinated  to  the  governor  of  the  gubernia 
in  question.  One  of  their  principal  tasks  was  to 
prevent  strikes  and  fight  every  strike  that  occurred. 
The  leading  local  organ  of  factory  supervision  was 
the  so-called  gubernia  board  of  administration  for 
factories  and  mines.  The  composition  of  the 
board  is  quite  characteristic:  the  governor  presides 
and  the  entire  upper  local  hierarchy  are  mem- 
bers of  this  board:  the  vice-governor,  the  public 
prosecutor,  the  chief  of  police,  the  chief  factory 
inspector,  and  the  district  engineer.  To  endow 
the  constellation  with  greater  authority,  another 
element  interested  in  protection  of  labor  was 
introduced,   namely:   four   members   of   the   local 

50 


manufacturers  and  factory  proprietors.  It  is 
obvious,  therefore,  that  under  Czarism  protection 
of  labor  was  actually  turned  into  protection  of 
capital  against  labor. 

When  Russian  Czarism  gave  place  to  that  miser- 
able miscarriage — the  Coalition  Government,  re- 
presenting a  mixture  of  the  big  industrial  bour- 
geoisie with  the  anaemic  middle  class  personified 
by  the  Socialist-Revolutionaries  and  the  Menshe- 
viks,  protection  of  labor  ceased  to  be  a  scarecrow. 
But  it  is  plain  enough  that  the  vacillating  Menshe- 
vik  opportunist  Ministry  of  Labor,  ever  apprehen- 
sive of  encroaching  upon  the  interests  of  the  bour- 
geoisie, was  not  capable  of  serious  work  in  this 
sphere.  The  result  of  this  is  that  for  the  8  months 
from  February  to  Oct.  1917,  only  pitiful  attempts 
were  made  with  regard  to  protection  of  labor,  the 
most  characteristic  of  which  is  the  project  of 
"labor  inspection"  consisting  in  the  appointment 
of  higher  specialists  and  of  workers  who  were  to 
act  only  in  the  capacity  of  "assistants."  In  every 
other  respect  the  old  Czarist  laws  remained  in- 
violate, and  in  addition  to  this,  constant  deviation 
was  allowed  in  the  interests  of  the  bourgeoisie  upon 
the  first  demand  of  the  kings  of  "national"  capital. 


51 


//.     The  Soviet  Government  and  Protection  of 
Labor. 

The  position  radically  changed  when  the  revo- 
lutionary proletariat  overthrew  the  political,  and 
what  is  still  more  important,  the  economic  domi- 
nation of  the  propertied  classes,  and  in  alliance  with 
the  poorest  part  of  the  peasantry  took  the  power 
into  its  hands.  Protection  of  labor  instantly  be- 
came one  of  the  most  important  and  serious  aspects 
of  Soviet  work.  The  importance  that  was  attached 
to  protection  of  labor  by  the  Soviet  Government 
can  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  on  the  29th  of 
October,  1917,*  four  days  after  the  proclamation 
of  proletarian  dictatorship,  a  decree  was  published 
on  "the  length  and  distribution  of  working  time;" 
this  decree  instantly  provided  an  introductory  code 
of  laws  for  the  protection  of  labor,  embodying  all 
the  old  revolutionary  demands  of  the  working  class, 
such  as  the  eight  hour  working  day,  a  number  of 
measures  in  the  field  of  protection  of  child  and 
woman  labor,  and  so  forth. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  our  industry  has  been  al- 
most entirely  nationalized  by  this  time,  and  is 
administered  by  organs  of  proletarian  dictatorship 
our  protection  of  labor  now  takes  place,  not  as 
formerly,  in  a  struggle  against  the  big  employers, 
but  on  the  contrary,  in  complete  agreement  and 
in  close  collaboration  with  the  industrial  organs. 


November  11,  1917.    New  Style. 

52 


Our  real  achievements  in  protection  of  labor 
increase  in  proportion  to  the  growth  of  the  power 
of  the  Soviet  Government  and  the  improvement  of 
its  international,  political  and  economic  position. 
The  Soviet  Government's  entire  work  of  labor 
protection  rests  on  the  very  effective  creative 
activity  of  the  masses  of  the  workers.  For  this 
reason  our  state  organs  of  labor  protection  are 
established  by  the  Trade  Unions,  and  are  elected 
by  the  Trade  Union  amalgamations,  and  their 
activity  is  carried  on  in  close  contact  with  the  Trade 
Unions.  Finally,  labor  protection  in  Russia 
embraces  without  exception  all  wage  workers, 
unlike  the  Western  countries.  Our  labor  pro- 
tection laws  are  equally  applied  to  large  works  and 
factories,  as  well  as  to  crafts,  to  home  industries, 
to  transport  and  agricultural  laborers,  to  clerks, 
shop  assistants  and  domestic  servants, 

///.     Working  Hours 

The  laws  passed  as  early  as  November,  1917, 
have  legislated  an  8-hour  working  day,  a  measure 
in  its  time  carefully  avoided  by  the  compromising 
government  of  Kerensky.  Subsequently  this  law 
was  confirmed  in  the  "Code  of  Labor  Laws"  issued 
on  the  10th  of  December  1918.  Overtime  is  allow- 
ed only  as  an  exception,  in  cases  where  production 
is  of  extreme  social  importance  and  when  it  is  not 
possible  correspondingly  to  increase  the  number  of 
workers  or  to  arrange  the  work  in  two  or  three 
shifts.  In  all  such  cases  the  sanction  is  required 
of  the  trade  unions  for  tax  on  all  overtime,  in  ad- 
dition to  which  the  confirmation  of  the  inspector 
of  labor  is  also  required.     All  overtime  work  is 

53 


paid  for  as  time  and  a  half.  In  accordance  with 
the  "Code  of  Labor  Laws"  the  standard  of  night 
work  for  every  worker  is  established  as  seven  hours 
instead  of  eight,  but  is  paid  for  as  eight  hours. 

But  not  all  workers  work  eight  hours.  All 
mental  and  sedentary  workers,  in  view  of  the  mental 
strain  incurred,  have  a  6  hour  working  day.  In 
exceptionally  difficult  or  harmful  work,  such  as 
tobacco  manufacture,  gas  works,  certain  chemical 
works,  and  so  forth,  the  working  day  is  reduced  to 
7  and  even  to  6  hours. 

During  the  working  day  an  interval  for  dinner  is 
established  at  every  factory,  lasting  from  30  mi- 
nutes to  2  hours,  during  which  the  worker  can  re- 
cuperate to  some  extent.  Every  worker  is  entitled 
to  a  weekly  rest  which  is  to  consist  of  42  hours  con- 
tinuous and  uninterrupted.  Therefore  on  the  eve 
of  all  holidays  factories  are  closed  two  hours  be- 
fore the  usual  time.  In  all  work  that  cannot  be 
stopped  even  for  a  single  day  (as  in  the  case  of 
nurses,  engine-drivers,  tramways,  electric  or  gas 
workers,  etc.),  the  workers  are  afforded  a  day's 
rest  some  other  day  of  the  week  instead  of  the 
regular  holiday. 

Finally,  in  Russia  for  the  first  time  in  the  history 
of  industry,  obligatory  leave  with  the  preservation 
of  the  full  wage  or  salary  has  been  introduced  for 
all  workers  and  employees.  Every  worker  who  has 
been  employed  either  in  one  or  several  places  for 
six  continuous  months  is  entitled,  according  to  the 
"Code  of  Labor  Laws"  to  a  fortnight's  leave,  those 
who  have  worked  for  a  year  to  a  month's  leave.  In 
view  of  the  great  economic  crisis,  only  a  fortnight's 
leave  is  permitted  at  the  present  time,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  all  workers  engaged  in  harmful  produc- 

54 


tion,  as  well  as  children,  all  of  whom  are  given  an 
additional  fortnight's  leave. 

IV.     Protection  of  Female  Labor 

One  of  the  most  important  aspects  of  the  acti- 
vity of  labor  protection  is  the  protection  of  women, 
which  is  an  essential  condition  for  the  health  of  the 
children  of  the  proletariat.  In  accordance  with  the 
"Code  of  Labor  Laws,"  all  underground,  night  and 
overtime  work  for  women  in  Russia  is  forbidden. 

Particular  attention  is  paid  to  pregnant  women. 
Expectant  mothers  engaged  in  physical  labor  are 
liberated  8  weeks  prior  to  confinement.  Women 
engaged  in  mental  labor,  which  has  a  smaller 
influence  than  physical  labor,  upon  the  child,  dur- 
ing the  mother's  period  of  pregnancy,  are  liberated 
from  their  work  6  weeks  prior  to  confinement. 
Every  woman  worker  or  employee  is  fully  paid 
during  the  whole  period  of  leave.  Having  given 
birth,  all  women  are  freed  from  work  for  another 
period  of  8  weeks  in  the  case  of  physical  workers 
or  6  weeks  in  the  case  of  mental  workers,  with  full 
pay. 

To  give  the  mother  an  opportunity  herself  to 
feed  the  child,  which  is  of  great  importance  for  its 
health  and  development,  a  half  hour's  leave  after 
every  three  hours  of  work  is  granted  to  every  wo- 
man who  feeds  her  child  by  breast.  Wherever 
possible  nurseries  are  established  at  all  large  enter- 
prises, where  the  mother  is  able  to  leave  her  child 
under  proper  care  during  her  working  hours  and 
feed  it  during  the  intervals.  In  a  number  of  towns 
special  "Mother  and  Child"  houses  have  been 
established  where  the  woman  worker  can  pass  the 
last  months  of  her  pregnancy  as  well  as  the  period 

55 


of  lactation  and  can  learn  the  art  of  rearing  her 
child.  In  addition  to  this,  in  order  to  raise  the 
general  level  of  the  life  of  the  mother  who  feeds 
her  child  by  breast,  every  woman  worker  is  grant- 
ed an  additional  subsidy  during  the  period  of  lacta- 
tion; in  Moscow  this  amounts  to  600  roubles  per 
month.  Immediately  after  having  given  birth,  a 
special  grant  is  made  to  the  extent  of  a  fortnight's 
minimum  pay  (720  roubles  for  Moscow)  for  the 
baby's  clothes  and  all  other  necessaries. 

All  this  greatly  aids  in  preserving  the  health  of 
the  woman  worker  and  her  capacity  to  produce 
healthy  normal  offspring  for  the  proletariat,  which 
forms  an  essential  basis  of  the  building  of  the  future 
of  the  victorious  class. 


56 


V.     Child  Labor 

In  all  countries  the  protection  of  labor  and  the 
protection  of  children  from  the  heartless  exploita- 
tion of  capital  met  insurmountable  obstacles  in  the 
shape  of  private  profits.  Only  the  Soviet  Govern- 
ment has  set  itself  to  the  task  of  actually  saving 
the  young  proletarian  generation  from  premature 
degeneration,  the  effect  produced  by  hard  daily 
work  upon  the  young  and  still  weak  organisms. 

According  to  our  laws  children  under  the  age  of 
16  are  not  allowed  to  engage  in  any  work.  In 
special  cases  children  of  14  to  16  may  be  given 
work,  only  with  the  permission  of  the  Labor  In- 
spector and  only  in  such  cases  where  there  is  acute 
material  need  and  where  it  is  impossible  to  establish 
them  in  schools,  homes  and  other  State  institutions. 
For  all  young  children  who  have  not  reached  the 
age  of  16,  and  who  are  already  working  in  factories, 
etc.,  a  four-hour  working  day  is  established.  Minors 
(between  the  ages  of  16  and  18)  do  not  work  long- 
er than  six  hours  a  day.  All  minors  who  have 
not  reached  the  age  of  18  are  forbidden  overtime, 
night  work  and  underground  work. 

Children  of  tender  age  (up  to  14  years  of  age) 
who  are  found  working  in  any  enterprise  are 
gradually  withdrawn  from  the  work;  every  care 
being  taken  that  these  children  are  not  left  idle  or 
without  means  of  existence  and  thus  do  not  fall 
into   the   hands   of   street   speculation.     They   are 

57 


withdrawn  from  work  only  when  it  becomes  possible 
to  establish  them  in  schools,  in  children's  com- 
munes, or  other  educational  institutions.  At  the 
same  time,  wherever  a  child  gave  financial 
assistance  to  its  family,  the  latter  is  correspondingly 
recompensed.  In  the  withdrawing  of  children  from 
work  as  well  as  in  protection  of  child  labor,  the 
League  of  Youth  and  the  trade  unions  are  partici- 
pating. 

Special  care  is  also  taken  that  children  are  not 
engaged  in  harmful,  dangerous  or  hard  work  and 
that  their  work  should  at  the  same  time  serve  as 
a  school  for  their  future  occupations.  The  reduced 
working  day  for  children  and  minors  is  paid  fully 
according  to  the  tariff  scale. 


58 


VI.     Sanitary  and  Technical  Protection  of  Labor. 

The  problem  of  protection  of  labor  is  not  only 
the  struggle  against  the  degeneration  of  the  pro- 
letariat by  establishing,  by  means  of  legislation, 
conditions  of  labor,  protection  against  overwork, 
and  especially  against  undue  strain  and  exhaustion 
of  its  weaker  elements,  women  and  children,  but 
also  to  effect  real  improvements  and  changes  in  the 
general  conditions  in  which  the  workman  lives. 
With  this  object  in  view  special  attention  is  paid 
to  the  sanitary  and  hygienic  construction  of  enter- 
prises, to  the  housing  problem,  hospitals,  schools, 
nurseries  and  so  forth.  Measures  are  also  taken 
to  prevent  accidents,  by  means  of  a  proper 
construction  of  industrial  buildings,  machinery 
safeguards,  inspection  of  steam  boilers,  lifts,  and  so 
forth. 

It  is  of  course  impossible  immediately  to  achieve 
important  results  in  this  sphere.  The  old  form 
of  production,  which  was  mainly  concerned  with 
the  profit  of  the  owners,  took  no  care  whatsoever  of 
the  health  of  the  workers.  As  a  result  of  this  we 
are  left  with  a  legacy  from  the  bourgeoisie  of  close, 
filthy,  dark  and  technically  badly  equipped  enter- 
prises, in  which  the  worker  daily  ruins  his  health 
and  which  have  acquired  the  appropriate  name  of 
"exhausters."  The  Soviet  Government  has  com- 
menced a  serious  battle  against  dust,  high  tempe- 
rature, poisonous  fumes  and  gases  and  other  in- 
dustrial evils.     A  number  of  compulsory  regula- 

59 


tions  of  a  sanitary  and  technical  character,  apply- 
ing to  all  enterprises,  as  well  as  to  individual 
forms  of  production,  have  been  established.  The 
organs  of  inspection  of  technical  and  sanitary 
conditions  of  labor  take  all  measures  for  every 
possible  improvement  as  to  safety,  industrial 
hygiene  and  sanitation. 

The  housing  conditions  of  the  working  class  are 
closely  connected  with  their  conditions  of  labor, 
and  therefore  the  organs  of  the  Protection  of  Labor 
pay  particular  attention  to  the  housing  question. 
Detailed  regulations  concerning  the  construction 
and  furnishing,  etc.,  of  the  houses  in  connection 
with  the  factories  and  works  are  issued  by  the 
People's  Commissariat  of  Labor.  This  Commis- 
sariat has  also  drawn  up  model  plans  of  houses 
and  separate  workers'  dwellings,  as  well  as  of  whole 
workers'  settlements  where  the  demands  of  hygiene 
fully  coincide  with  comfort  and  economy.  In  the 
various  localities  every  measure  is  taken  to  improve 
the  sanitary  conditions  of  the  workers'  dwellings 
and  to  reduce  the  prevailing  lack  of  room.  The 
entire  working  class  is  interested  in  taking  part  in 
the  improvement  of  housing  conditions,  furnishing, 
etc.,  through  their  factory  committees.  An  exten- 
sive sanitary  and  educational  activity  is  carried  on 
among  them  for  this  purpose. 


60 


VII.     Other  Questions  of  Protection  of  Labor. 

The  above  questions  exhaust  by  no  means  the 
many-sided  legislative  activity  of  the  Protection  of 
Labor  organs  in  Soviet  Russia:  it  is  impossible  to 
deal  with  them  fully  in  a  small  pamphlet.  I  will 
point  out  in  brief  the  following  aspects  of  it.  At 
present  every  worker  engaged  in  physical  labor  is 
supplied  free  of  charge  with  working  clothing  made 
according  to  the  requirements  of  labor  protection. 
In  addition  to  these,  in  all  factories  which  expose 
workers  to  a  danger  of  poisoning,  or  where  the 
workers  are  subject  to  dampness  or  filth,  etc.,  special 
protective  clothing  is  supplied.  The  standard  and 
kind  of  such  clothing  and  footwear,  as  well  as  the 
category  of  workers  to  be  supplied,  is  defined  by 
the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor.  All  working 
men  and  women  engaged  in  harmful  trades  are 
supplied  with  soap,  free  of  charge,  in  spite  of  the 
acute  shortage  of  soap  in  the  Soviet  Republic. 

Protection  of  labor  includes  not  only  persons  em- 
ployed in  the  ordinary  way  but  also  those  who  are 
subject  to  labor  service.  The  Soviet  Government 
as  a  proletarian  dictatorship  which  is  based  on 
labor  makes  an  effort  to  assure  normal  and  healthy 
conditions  for  the  labor  of  those  who  have  been 
mobilized  for  work.  Special  regulations  regarding 
the  application  of  the  Code  of  Laws  to  labor  service 
have  been  drawn  up,  in  connection  with  which  there 
have  also  been  established  special  commissions  for 
the  proper  utilization  of  labor.     The  question  has 

61 


now  been  put  forward  regarding  the  establishment 
of  special  organs  of  the  protection  of  labor  in 
connection  with  the  labor  armies.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  difficult  conditions  of  the  present  moment, 
the  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor  is  carrying  on 
scientific  investigation  of  harmful  trades.  In  accord- 
ance with  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Soviet 
Government  the  working  masses  themselves  are 
attracted  to  this  work.  The  Trade  Unions  in  con- 
junction with  doctors  and  engineers  study  in  detail 
the  circumstances  and  conditions  of  work  of  every 
individual  trade.  At  the  present  time  the  Depart- 
ment of  Protection  of  Labor  of  the  Labor  Commis- 
sariat is  organizing  a  special  institute  for  the  study 
of  labor;  a  number  of  experimental  laboratories, 
clinics  for  trade  diseases  and  cabinets  for  medical 
statistics  have  been  established.  This  Institute  is 
to  serve  as  the  first  scientific  establishment  in  Rus- 
sia in  connection  with  questions  of  the  protection  of 
labor,  after  the  type  of  similar  institutions  in  the 
largest  centres  of  Western  Europe  and  America. 
The  People's  Commissariat  of  Labor  has,  at  the 
same  time,  established  an  experimental  study  of 
the  questions  of  a  hygienic  labor  efficiency.  Fully 
recognizing  the  necessity  of  a  scientific  organization 
of  production,  Soviet  Russia  cannot,  however, 
completely  accept  the  system  of  Taylor  and  other 
American  engineers,  who  fail  to  take  into  considera- 
tion the  interests  and  the  health  of  the  workers. 
The  problem  of  the  hygienic  efficiency  of  labor  is 
to  unite  all  the  scientifically  correct  and  rational 
foundations  of  the  Taylor  system  with  the  needs  of 
physiology  and  labor  hygiene. 

It  is  necessary  to  mention  the  extensive  cultural 
and  educational  work  which  is  being  carried  on 

62 


directly  at  the  factories  and  works,  and  in  the  very 
thick  of  the  working  masses,  by  the  organs  of  labor 
protection.  One  of  the  basic  principles  of  our  work 
is  the  effort  to  make  of  every  workman,  even  of 
the  most  backward,  an  intelligent  factor  for  his 
own  labor  protection.  To  this  end  the  Inspectors 
of  Labor  and  other  workers  in  the  sphere  of  the 
protection  of  labor  continuously  arrange  lectures 
and  reports  on  various  subjects  of  labor  legislation, 
of  the  history  of  the  protection  of  labor,  of  hygiene, 
sanitation  and  safety. 


63 


VIII.     Inspection  of  Labor. 

One  of  the  chief  questions  of  the  organization 
of  labor  protection  with  which  the  Soviet  Govern- 
ment was  faced,  is  the  establishment  of  an  insti- 
tution for  the  supervision  of  the  proper  realization 
of  labor  protection  laws.  The  revolutionary  ele- 
ments of  the  proletariat  of  all  countries  have  always 
put  forward  the  demand  that  labor  inspection 
should  be  transferred  to  the  labor  organizations. 
But  even  the  so-called  "Revolutionary"  Government 
of  the  first  period  of  the  Russian  Revolution  did 
not  dare  to  take  this  measure.  Like  certain  West- 
ern European  countries,  it  considered  it  the  maxi- 
mum of  radicalism  to  admit  even  as  assistants  in 
this  inspection,  workers  who  enjoyed  no  authority 
or  rights.  These  assistants  had  no  right  to  be 
connected  with  any  labor  organization  and  their 
whole  business  was  to  represent  a  semi-actual  re- 
presentation of  the  proletariat  in  the  organization 
of  the  protection  of  labor.  Only  an  assistant  who 
had  passed  four  months  in  this  unenviable  role 
of  official  and  who  had  by  this  time  completely 
estranged  himself  from  the  masses  could  become 
an  inspector  of  labor. 

The  proletarian  revolution,  of  course,  instantly 
put  an  end  to  this  system  and  realized  the  old 
revolutionary  motto  of  elected  labor  inspection.  By 
the  decree  of  the  7th  of  May,  1918,  the  old  labor 
inspection,  hateful  to  the  Russian  working  class, 
was  demolished,  and  in  its  place  was  established  a 

64 


purely  proletarian  labor  inspection.  The  principal 
decree  was  furthermore  developed  and  supplement- 
ed with  a  number  of  orders,  instructions  and  cir- 
culars. 

Labor  inspectors  are  elected  at  labor  conferences 
of  representatives  of  trade  unions  and  of  factory 
and  works  committees  of  those  districts  in  which 
they  are  to  serve.  Only  where  the  convening  of 
such  conferences  is  impossible,  do  the  elections 
take  place  at  the  local  trade  union  councils.  In 
this  way  the  closest  contact  between  the  labor  in- 
spectors and  the  working  masses  by  whom  they  are 
delegated  is  secured.  The  election  process  in  it- 
self is  of  the  greatest  educational  and  propaganda 
importance.  At  these  elections  working  masses  be- 
come acquainted  with  the  general  principles  and 
practice  of  the  protection  of  labor  in  Soviet  Rus- 
sia, as  well  as  with  the  decrees  and  instructions  in 
connection  with  labor  protection.  The  delegate 
visit  their  localities  and  make  reports  concerning 
the  conference,  and  in  this  manner  obtain  the  direct 
participation  of  the  masses  in  the  work  of  labor 
protection. 

Upon  his  election,  the  Inspector  of  Labor,  though 
directly  subordinated  to  the  Labor  Department 
works  at  the  same  time  in  close  contact  with  all 
the  local  trade  unions  and  also  carries  out  all  the 
instructions  of  the  local  council  of  trade  unions, 
which  is  empowered  to  withdraw  any  inspector  who 
may  turn  out  to  be  inefficient.  The  supervision  of 
the  labor  inspector  includes  all  the  workers  and 
employees  of  his  district,  independent  of  whether 
they  are  engaged  in  small  or  large  branches  of  in- 
dustry, in  private  or  state  factories,  in  civil,  mili- 
tary or  militarized  enterprises  or  institutions. 

65 


The  labor  inspector  makes  a  systematic  tour  of 
all  the  industrial  enterprises  and  institutions  of  his 
district,  which  he  is  authorized  freely  to  enter 
at  any  time  of  the  day  or  night,  as  well  as  to  visit 
any  place  where  work  is  carried  on,  as  well  as  every 
kind  of  building  in  any  way  connected  with  the 
workers,  such  as  dwelling  houses,  hospitals,  baths, 
kindergartens,  nurseries,  homes,  schools  and  so 
forth.  During  visits  to  the  various  enterprises  the 
administration  and  owners  of  such  are  bound  to 
afford  every  assistance  to  the  inspector  and  must 
not  refuse  to  give  explanations  on  the  plea  of  trade 
secrecy,  which  has  been  abolished  by  the  proletarian 
revolution,  along  with  the  otlier  secrets  and 
privileges  of  the  propertied  classes.  The  labor 
inspector  is  to  discover  all  the  deviations  from 
and  violations  of  the  rules  and  regulations,  whether 
with  regard  to  the  rights  of  the  workers  or  with 
regard  to  technical  and  sanitary  protection  of  labor. 
All  inspection  takes  place  in  conjunction  with  the 
representative  of  the  factory  or  works  committee 
or  other  analogous  committees.  If,  during  the 
inspection  a  careless  or  spiteful  attitude  on  the  part 
of  an  owner  or  administration  of  the  enterprise  in 
question,  is  observed  towards  the  interests  of  the 
life,  health  and  protection  of  labor  of  workers  and 
employees,  the  Labor  Inspector  takes  the  guilty 
party  before  the  court  or  imposes  a  fine  upon  the 
same  through  tlie  local  Labor  Department. 

According  to  the  decree,  the  Labor  Inspector 
should  not  only  carefully  supervise  the  enforcement 
of  existing  laws,  but  he  is  also  given  the  right  to 
take  all  necessary  measures  for  the  removal  of  any 
circumstance  which  may  be  a  menace  to  the  life 
and    health    of    the    workers,    even    though    such 

66 


measures  be  not  provided  for  by  the  law.  In 
special  cases  when  serious  defects  are  discovered, 
the  Inspector  of  Labor  has  wide  powers,  including 
that  of  stopping  machines  or  engines  or  looms,  or 
even  of  closing  down  certain  workshops  or  whole 
enterprises.  Generally  speaking,  the  Labor  Inspec- 
tor is  the  executive  factor  in  our  legislation,  adapt- 
ing all  our  regulations  and  decrees  to  the  actual 
conditions  and  local  peculiarities  of  a  given  district. 
With  the  consent  and  official  sanction  of  the  local 
trade  union  organizations,  the  inspectors  may  per- 
mit, in  the  event  of  extreme  necessity,  deviations 
from  the  existing  standard,  and  establish  the  order 
in  which  one  or  another  measure  which  cannot  be 
realized  in  its  entirety,  is  to  be  enforced. 

The  Labor  Inspectors  do  not  confine  their  activity 
to  visiting  enterprises  alone.  They  are  to  set  up 
inquiry  offices,  where  the  workers  are  given  all 
necessary  information  with  detailed  instructions  on 
all  questions  of  labor  and  social  welfare;  they  are 
to  accept  reports  and  complaints  concerning  viola- 
tions of  labor  protection  laws  and  to  direct  workers 
who  seek  information  to  the  respective  institutions. 

The  Labor  Inspectors  take  an  active  part  in  the 
activity  of  the  organs  of  public  economy,  public 
health,  food  supply,  public  education,  social  wel- 
fare, the  housing  question,  and  so  forth;  they  raise 
here  all  questions  in  any  way  connected  with  labor 
protection,  the  health  of  the  workers,  and  the  im- 
provement of  their  general  conditions  of  life,  and 
directly  participate  in  bringing  about  all  the 
measures  of  these  organs.  Furthermore,  the  Labor 
Inspectors  attract  to  the  work  of  labor  protection 
all  the  local  labor  organizations,  by  reading  papers 
on  their  activities,  at  the  trade  union  sessions,  at 

67 


the  general  meetings  of  individual  enterprises, 
among  the  women  workers,  among  the  working 
youth,  as  well  as  at  specially  convened  general 
labor  conferences.  In  addition  to  this,  the  Labor 
Inspectors  periodically  deliver  lectures  and  reports, 
and  supply  the  local  press  with  articles  on  the 
protection  of  labor. 


68 


IX.     Inspection  of  Labor  at  Large. 

In  every  country  of  the  world  there  are  a  numher 
of  individual  groups  of  the  proletariat  who  are  not 
subject  to  labor  protection  laws.  In  reality  in  such 
countries  the  law  includes  only  the  industrial  pro- 
letariat of  factories  and  works  which  is  best  orga- 
nized, most  class  conscious,  and  therefore  most 
dangerous  to  the  bourgeoisie.  At  the  same  time, 
there  is  everywhere  a  large  mass  of  disjointed,  un- 
organized, and  backward  workers  working  under 
bad  conditions,  with  whom  state  protection  of  labor 
in  capitalist  society  has  no  concern. 

In  Soviet  Russia  such  a  state  of  things  is  of 
course  inadmissible.  There  are  no  pariahs  in  our 
midst;  we  are  all  one  closely  coimected  single  labor 
family.  General  inspection  of  labor,  usually  con- 
sisting of  the  skilled  workers  of  large  industrial 
industries,  cannot  embrace  all  the  small  home 
industries  and  disjointed  enterprises,  as  well  as 
those  forms  of  labor  the  conditions  of  which  are 
distinguished  by  certain  peculiarities. 

For  this  purpose  in  Russia  there  has  been 
established  a  special  Inspection.  These  Inspec- 
tors are  part  of  the  general  system  of  State 
Inspection  of  Labor,  but  at  the  same  time  serve 
the  needs  only  of  workers  of  individual  branches 
of  industry,  and  are  elected  directly  by  the  corres- 
ponding trade  unions.  In  this  manner  the  follow- 
ing special  non-district  inspections  have  been  or- 
ganized: of  the  railway  and  water  transport  work- 

69 


ers,  builders,  employees  of  the  post  and  telegraph, 
radio  and  telephone  services,  agricultural  work- 
ers, shop  assistants,  and  also  the  workers  engaged 
in  supplying  food  in  the  capitals.  For  separate 
districts  where  the  peasant  home  industry  is  greatly 
developed,  and  also  in  large  towns,  where  there  is 
a  large  number  of  various  small  concerns,  such  as 
workshops,  hotels,  offices,  cafes,  restaurants,  baths, 
barber  shops,  hospitals,  drugstores,  etc.,  there  are 
special  "small-industrial"  inspectors. 


70 


X.     Staff   for   Inspection   of   Labor. 

The  staflf  for  Labor  Inspection  acquires  particular 
importance  in  view  of  the  difficult  conditions  of  the 
period  of  transition  to  socialism,  and  of  the  particu- 
larly acute  economic  disorganization  and  civil  war. 
The  immediate  and  complete  realization  of  all  the 
demands  of  the  working  class  in  the  field  of  labor 
protection  is  absolutely  impossible,  and  the  most 
complex  and  responsible  task  of  adaptation  to  life 
of  the  general  demands  of  legislation,  and  the  real- 
ization of  all  that  can  be  realized,  is  demanded 
even  at  the  cost  of  the  greatest  difficulties.  The 
institution  of  labor  inspection  is  very  young.  It 
has  not  even  had  two  full  years  of  existence.  The 
political  situation  was  such  that  the  trade  unions 
had  to  give  their  best  men  to  the  war  to  protect 
the  revolution,  and  next,  to  organization  of  industry, 
establishment  of  transportation,  food  supply,  orga- 
nization of  industry,  organization  of  wage  tariff 
activity,  etc.  Yet,  in  spite  of  the  acute  shortage 
of  responsible  men,  the  working  class  proved  itself 
capable  of  providing  a  goodly  number  of  business- 
like and  intelligent  men  for  this  field  as  well.  And, 
what  is  most  important  of  all,  labor  inspection 
almost  entirely  rests  upon  the  proletariat  itself, 
which  makes  us  fully  confident  of  the  stability  and 
power  of  this  young  institution. 

According  to  statistics  for  the  month  of  April, 
1920,  there  were  elected  altogether  405  Labor 
Inspectors;   of  these,  there  were  319  district  and 

71 


86  other  inspectors.  The  latter  are  divided  as  to 
their  unions  as  follows:  Railway  Transport — 52, 
Water  Transport — 14,  Builders—^,  Communica- 
tions— 10,  General  inspection  of  agricultural 
workers  and  shop  assistants  has  only  just  begun 
to  be  organized,  and  employs  not  more  than  6  men 
at  the  present  time.  Of  the  Labor  Inspectors,  375 
are  men  and  30  women. 

We  thus  see  that  in  labor  inspection  a  consider- 
able number  of  women  is  represented,  and  it 
might  be  mentioned  that  both  men  and  women  can 
be  equally  true  Proletarian  Labor  Inspectors  and 
that  an  individual  woman  worker  can  freely  be- 
come a  general  Labor  Inspectress.  The  following 
is  the  distribution  of  Labor  Inspectors  according 
to  trade: 

Workers 232 

Foremen  and  technicians 75 

General  clerks 60 

Medical  assistants 5 

Teachers  6 

Druggists 2 

Students    6 

Doctors  3 

Lawyers 1 

Engineers    2 

Unclassified    13 

Altogether,  including  foremen,  there  were  307 
workers,  making  75  per  cent,  60  employees  making 
15  per  cent,  and  25  intellectuals  making  6  per  cent. 
The  class  composition  of  the  Labor  Inspection  is 
obvious. 

72 


As  to  previous  education,  they  are  distributed  as 
follows: 

Higher   Education 16 

Secondary   Education 38 

Secondary  Technical   and  craft 49 

Elementary   Education 272 

Domestic    Science   Education 13 

Unclassified 17 

The  latter  category  really  overlaps  with  element- 
ary and  domestic  science  education,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  it  consists  mainly  of  workers. 


Ages: 

Local 

General 

Total 

Up  to  20 

years.. 

1 

— 

1 

20—25 

" 

32 

11 

43 

25—30 

70 

18 

88 

30—35 

81 

26 

107 

35—40 

53 

14 

67 

40—45 

36 

15 

51 

45—50 

20 

— 

20 

>ove       50 

8 

— 

8 

unknown  "     18  2  20 

The  above  table  shows  the  greatest  number  of 
inspectors  is  of  the  most  mature  age  and  of  maxi- 
mum fitness, — from  25  to  35. 

Party  composition: 

Communists   183 

Sympathizers   85 

Mensheviks  15 

Left  Soc-Revolutionaries 6 

Anarchists   2 

Zionist  Socialists  1 

73 


Bund  1 

Non-Party   93 

Unknown   18 

I  assume  that  the  data  given  above  is  quite  suffi- 
cient to  enable  us  to  say  with  confidence  that  Pro- 
tection of  Labor  in  Soviet  Russia  is  in  reliable 
hands. 


74 


XL    Special  Inspections. 

The  Labor  Inspectors  who,  as  we  have  seen,  are 
in  the  majority  of  cases  class  conscious  workers 
of  a  domestic  education  are  incapable  of 
realizing  fully  all  the  tasks  in  the  sphere  of  Labor 
Protection.  Very  often  substantial  special  know- 
ledge is  required.  For  this  reason,  to  assist  Labor 
Inspection,  the  Soviet  Government  has  secured  the 
assistance  of  the  medical  and  technical  services. 
In  August  1918  a  technical  inspection  of  engineers 
was  instituted.  In  March  1919  Sanitary  Inspec- 
tion was  introduced,  all  the  inspectors  for  which 
were  medical  men.  It  has  not  been  possible  yet 
to  put  these  two  important  institutions  firmly  on 
their  feet,  owing  to  the  fact  that  at  the  present  time 
the  country  is  passing  through  a  sharp  crisis  of 
lack  of  specialists.  There  are  hardly  enough 
engineers  to  go  round  for  the  work  of  reestablish- 
ing industry  and  transport,  whilst  the  epidemics 
make  felt  the  sharp  need  of  doctors,  in  which  Rus- 
sia was  at  all  times  poor.  At  the  present  moment 
there  are  altogether  125  medical  inspectors. 
According  to  the  general  principles  of  our  policy, 
specialists,  doctors  and  engineers  are  more  of  a 
consultative,  auxiliary  importance,  assisting  by 
their  knowledge  and  special  experience  the  Labor 
Inspector,  who  guides  all  their  work,  bearing  the 
full  responsibility  for  the  condition  of  labor  protec- 
tion in  his  district. 

The  technical   and  medical   inspectors  make  a 

75 


systematic  supervision  of  enterprises  for  the 
purpose  of  removing  any  defect  or  infringement  of 
laws  in  the  sphere  of  technical  safety,  sanitation 
and  industrial  hygiene.  In  addition  to  this  they 
make  an  extensive  study  of  all  harmful  trades, 
trade  diseases  and  accidents  and  investigate  methods 
of  combatting  these.  All  their  work,  similar  to 
Labor  Inspection,  is  carried  on  in  the  closest  con- 
tact with  the  trade  unions  under  the  latter's  direct 
control. 


76 


XII.     Conclusions. 

It  is  quite  obvious  that  although  our  Labor  In- 
spection is  composed  chiefly  of  the  working  class, 
this  class  was  incapable  of  realizing  all  the  aspects 
of  its  activity.  A  Labor  Inspector  makes  only  peri- 
odical visits  to  an  enterprise,  gives  orders  and  direc- 
tions but  is  incapable  of  establishing  a  daily  control 
for  their  actual  execution.  In  addition  to  this, 
Labor  Protection  gives  actual  results  only  when  it 
is  carried  out  by  the  whole  working  mass  during 
its  usual  labor  processes.  For  its  maximum  suc- 
cess the  constant  utilization  is  necessary  of  that 
knowledge  of  the  peculiarities  of  every  branch  of  an 
individual  piece  of  work,  which  is  possessed  by  the 
workers  engaged  at  the  lathes  who  feel  the  necessity 
of  carrying  out  the  protection  of  Labor.  Further- 
more, it  is  necessary  to  attract  to  the  creative  active 
work  of  labor  protection  those  who  most  need  this 
protection,  the  weakest  elements  of  the  working 
class — the  women  and  the  children.  In  order  to 
achieve  these  tasks  there  are  being  established  in 
Soviet  Russia,  side  by  side  with  Labor  Inspection, 
special  organs  assisting  and  collaborating  with  the 
Inspection  in  its  complex  and  responsible  work. 
At  every  trade  union  from  top  to  bottom,  from  the 
central  committee  to  the  lowest  county  branch, 
special  departments  of  labor  protection  have  been 
established.  At  every  factory  and  works,  at  every 
enterprise  and  institution  numbering  above  15  men, 
a  commission  of  labor  protection  has  been  formed. 

77 


These  organs  vitalize  the  activity  of  the  Labor 
Inspection  by  special  knowledge  of  all  the  pecu- 
liarities and  the  demands  of  the  industry  in  ques- 
tion. They  also  see  to  it  that  all  the  instructions 
and  directions  are  not  dead  letters  but  are  actually 
carried  out  in  due  time  and  without  undue  devi- 
ations. In  the  absence  of  the  Inspector  they  carry 
on  the  constant  control  of  the  supervision  of  legis- 
lation on  Labor  Protection,  and  of  the  sanitary-hy- 
gienic state  of  enterprises,  housing,  schools,  hospi- 
tals, baths  and  so  forth.  Special  attention  is  to  be 
paid  to  attracting  into  active  work  in  Labor  pro- 
tection the  working  youth,  which  in  the  person  of 
its  Communist  League,  represents  a  leading  ele- 
ment, affording  a  great  assistance  to  all  the  organs 
of  the  Soviet  Government  by  presenting  an  example 
of  energy  and  firm  revolutionary  faith  in  the 
righteousness  of  the  workers'  cause.  In  connection 
with  all  organs  of  the  League  there  are  economic 
legal  departments  which  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Labor  Inspectors  carry  on  the  Labor  protection  of 
minors.  Moreover,  in  February  of  1920  we  laid 
the  foundation  of  a  special  institution  of  assistant 
inspectors  of  labor  from  the  midst  of  the  League 
of  Labor  Youth.  The  best  representatives  of  the 
proletarian  youth,  elected  to  these  posts  by  the 
League  in  agreement  witli  the  Council  of  Trade 
Unions,  are  able  to  devote  themselves  fully  to  the 
work  of  Labor  Protection.  Whilst  paying  most  at- 
tention to  the  protection  of  child  labor,  they  at  the 
same  time  assist  the  inspector  in  all  the  other  as- 
pects of  his  activity,  thanks  to  which  they  continu- 
ally gain  experience  as  fully  intelligent  and  efficient 
workers  in  labor  protection. 

Finally,  every  measure  is  being  taken  to  draw 

78 


women  workers  to  the  work  of  labor  protection. 
The  general  meetings  of  the  representatives  of 
women  workers  of  every  district  elect  special  dele- 
gates who  constantly  participate  in  the  activity  of 
the  local  sub-department  of  Labor  Protection,  visit 
the  enterprises  under  the  guidance  of  the  Labor 
Inspectors,  attend  special  lectures  and  take  part 
in  discussions  on  labor  protection  which  are  arran- 
ged by  the  Labor  Inspection,  and  also  closely  par- 
ticipate in  the  realization  of  Labor  Protection  for 
women  and  children. 

Thus,  thanks  to  persistent  and  detailed  daily  work, 
both  of  an  organizing,  agitational,  cultural  and  edu- 
cational character,  we  make  sure  that  protection 
of  labor  in  Soviet  Russia  does  actually  embrace  il- 
limitably  wide  circles  of  working  masses,  who  may 
be  said  fully  to  have  become  the  "self-protectors" 
of  the  proletariat  against  all  abnormal,  difficult  and 
harmful  conditions  with  which  the  capitalistically 
organized  public  labor  is  connected,  and  which  in- 
evitably lead  to  a  physical  and  mental  degeneration 
of  the  working  masses.  We  have  not  by  far  suc- 
ceeded in  fully  realizing  all  the  demands  of  labor 
protection.  This  is  in  the  first  place  to  be  explain- 
ed by  the  fact  that,  generally  speaking,  social 
measures  can  under  no  conditions  be  fully  realized 
on  a  large  scale  within  one  or  two  years.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  conditions  prevailing  in  all  countries, 
Russia  was  laboring  under  an  uninterrupted  three 
years'  civil  war  and  principally  under  a  brutal  and 
criminal  blockade  of  the  aggressive  Entente,  which 
prevented  among  other  things  the  full  realization 
of  protection  of  labor.  The  armed  counter-revolu- 
tion supported  by  Anglo-French  bayonets,  bullets, 
and  money,  and  at  times  even  with  human  "cannon- 

79 


fodder,"  compelled  the  Russian  workers  and  pea- 
sants to  strain  all  their  forces  for  the  defence  of 
the  Soviet  system.  At  the  same  time  the  Western 
European  capitalists,  having  economically  isolated 
Russia  from  the  whole  world,  contributed  towards 
the  extreme  economic  disorganization  and  tortured 
by  hunger  and  cold  the  children  of  the  proletariat. 
It  is  clear  enough  that  under  such  conditions 
not  all  the  aspects  of  labor  protection  could  be 
realized. 

However,  Soviet  Russia  is  slowly  but  surely  ad- 
vancing along  the  road  of  extending  and  deepen- 
ing real  social  Protection  of  Labor.  However 
difficult  the  general  position  of  the  country  is  at 
the  present  time,  the  Russian  workers  nevertlieless 
lay  the  cornerstone  of  the  edifice  of  Labor  Pro- 
tection, whose  problem  it  is  to  serve  as  the  temple 
of  healthy,  beautiful  and  joyous  labor. 


80 


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